In the Path of the Adder
by yellowrose
Summary: McGee and Tony find themselves in serious trouble when McGee falls prey to a religious cult.
1. Chapter 1

**I had such fun writing one NCIS fiction, I thought I'd try another. This one is a little different and I hope you enjoy it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with NCIS, just enjoy writing about it!**

**CHAPTER ONE**

NCIS agent Timothy McGee stood silently in the close confines of the elevator doing his best not to flinch as his boss, Jethro Gibbs raked him over the coals. Honestly, it really hadn't been McGee's fault. The address he had given Gibbs as the location of a suspected meth lab really _had_ been an abandoned night club… until recently. Two months ago it had been turned into a nightclub for those who felt clothing should be optional. Obviously, no one had updated the records and needless to say when Gibbs, Tony and Ziva had burst into the club, guns drawn and bellowing "NCIS!" they had been shocked not only to discover there wasn't a single item related to meth manufacturing but to find themselves surrounded by a couple of hundred panicky nudists. Gibbs was livid.

"Don't you _ever_ give me an address without double checking it, _do you understand, McGee_!? McGee felt Gibb's steely glare burning right through him.

"Yes, Boss," he mumbled looking down at his feet. He could feel his face burning. "It'll never happen again."

"It better not, or I'm sending you back down to the basement with the rest of geeks!" Gibbs smacked the "run" button on the elevator returning it to its normal function. As soon as the doors opened, Gibbs stalked out without a single glance at McGee.

With a miserable sigh, McGee slowly trailed after his boss. His entire week had gone like this. It seemed he could do nothing right and with this last mistake, Gibbs had gone ballistic. Head down, McGee slunk back to his seat and stared steadfastly at his computer, pointedly ignoring the sympathetic glances from Tony and Ziva. Distantly, he heard a phone ring.

"Grab your gear," Gibbs announced already heading for the elevator. "Dead marine." McGee stood watching uncertainly as Ziva and Tony shouldered their back packs. Gibbs glanced at him and rolled his eyes. "You too, McGee," he snapped as he stepped into the elevator. Quickly, McGee grabbed his own gear and hurried after the others. Hopefully this case would go a little better for him.

It took several hours to reach the location, a pond deep in the Appalachian Mountains. Some hikers had come across a body floating in the water and using their satellite phone called for help. Gibbs watched as Tony and McGee fished the body out of the pond and onto the tarp they'd laid out on the shore. Ducky and Palmer arrived a short while later.

"Mr. Palmer," said Ducky irritably, "If you cannot read a map better than that, then I shall have to find a replacement."

"But Doctor," retorted Palmer wearily, "_You_ were the one reading the map. I outlined the route with a highlighter. Nowhere on that map did it say we should take a right onto Rt. 29!"

"Well, how am I supposed to see yellow highlighter in this light," grumbled Ducky, still refusing to back down. He glared at his assistant another moment then turned to Gibbs as he picked up his medical bag. "So, Jethro, what do you have for me today?"

"Dead marine," replied Gibbs looking down at the corpse at his feet. "Coupla hikers found him floating in the pond. Ziva's talking to them now. There's no ID but his uniform identifies him as a marine lieutenant. That's all we know."

Ducky nodded and stooped down to examine the body more closely. "I estimate he's been dead approximately three days. I don't see any evidence of gunshot or knife wounds so I cannot say for sure if this is the result of foul play or simply an unfortunate accident. I'll need to take this poor fellow back to the morgue and have a closer look." Gibbs simply nodded. He turned to survey the area around them.

It was a lonely, forsaken spot surrounded by dense forest and high mountains. The pond was in a small clearing with a dirt track leading past it. Deep shadows gave the area a cold, sinister feel. Gibbs didn't like it. It felt wrong somehow. He frowned and began to say as much to Ducky when he heard a sound coming from further up the track. He turned to see a tall, lean man with a long grey beard striding purposefully down the path towards them.

Gibbs watched warily. The man's flinty gaze met Gibbs' directly without hesitation, his mouth a thin slash across his narrow face. He strode directly to Gibbs and abruptly halted a few feet away studying the NCIS agent with deep suspicion.

"Excuse me," the man said angrily, "Might I ask what you are doin' on my land? This is private property and you have no right to be here."

Gibbs could feel his hackles begin to rise. He held up his badge and ID. "NCIS Special Agent Jethro Gibbs," he said, his calm tone belying in irritation. "And what we're doing here is investigating a dead marine. You wanna comment on that?"

The man stiffened as he turned his gaze to the corpse but made no response. He stared at the dead man, his eyes darkening. Silently he mouthed some words then returned his attention to Gibbs. "I have never seen this man before in my life but I will pray for his soul." He paused as if considering his next words. "I am the Reverend Josiah MacAbee. I minister to the people in this area."

Gibbs lifted his eyebrows in faint surprise. The man looked like some illiterate hillbilly but spoke like a cultured man raised far from these desolate mountains. "You aren't from around here," observed Gibbs tilting his head slightly.

MacAbee's eyes briefly flicked away and then back. "I was born in the hills," he said stiffly, "But left as a young man to pursue my education. It was my wish to bring the Lord's word to the backwards people of the mountains. It has been my mission and I feel I have been successful." He gestured towards the surrounding mountains. "The people here are suspicious of strangers and I have often been called upon to represent them to outsiders as I do now. They revel in their isolation and to many would seem backwards and superstitious, but I can assure you, Special Agent Gibbs, that they are good, God-fearing people who simply wish to be left alone to worship as they will and avoid the evil influences of the outside world."

Gibbs studied the man mildly. "Well, Reverend, I have no desire to upset your congregation but if we find this was more than a simple accident, we may need to speak to some of these people."

MacAbee looked as if he would protest but he pressed his lips together then nodded. "If it comes to that, I will cooperate fully, Agent Gibbs. We have nothing to hide and will be more than happy to help discover what happened to your dead marine."

Gibbs reached into his pocket and handed MacAbee his card. "Call me if you happen to hear anything. How can I get in touch with you?"

McAbee chuckled softly. "We have no telephones here, Agent Gibbs, but if you must get word to me, you can leave a message at the general store in Providence. Brother Samuel Landon runs the general store and he knows how to reach me should the need arise."

Gibbs' eyes narrowed for a moment. He really didn't like this guy but he couldn't put his finger on anything specific. It was just a gut feeling and Gibbs had learned long ago to trust his gut. "Thanks, Reverend, we'll do that."

The Reverend turned to leave when he paused. He could see a tall young man stuffing a camera into his backpack. "Young man!" he called to get the agent's attention. "Be careful there. You are standing on the edge of precipice and could easily fall."

McGee, startled by the man's warning took a step backwards and immediately felt the ground drop away. The edge had been hidden by tall grass and weeds. With a cry of surprise he tumbled down the steep hill. A large oak tree abruptly halted his descent and McGee grunted in pain as he rubbed his bruised and battered body. Slowly, he climbed to his feet. He seemed to be in one piece.

"McGee!" Tim looked up to see Gibbs glaring down at him from the ravine's edge. "Quit fooling around and get back up here. We're leaving."

"I'm on my way, Boss!" called McGee but Gibbs had already disappeared. With a forlorn sigh, McGee reached down to pick up his pack then froze. There, just inches from his pack was a very large, very dangerous looking snake intently watching McGee with its flat, malevolent gaze. After years as a scout, McGee knew his poisonous snakes and he instantly recognized this one as a copperhead. He felt his mouth go dry as the snake turned its attention towards him, its mouth opening threateningly displaying its long, deadly fangs. McGee could feel his heart beginning to pound. He had to get his pack but the snake had rendered him immobile.

"You need some help?" Tim whirled around to see a young woman materialize behind him. _Where had she come from? _The girl strode up to Tim seemingly unhindered by the brush and rocks that choked the hill. To Tim, she looked like some kind of wood nymph. Her long thick auburn hair reached to her waist and her china blue eyes observed him with some interest.

"Careful!" cried Tim finally able to move. "There's a poisonous copperhead right there!"

The girl stopped alongside McGee then shook her head in amusement. "He won't hurt you." Mouth agape, Tim watched as the woman stepped close to the snake, began to croon softly then carefully reached down and fearlessly grabbed the snake behind its massive, triangular head. Tim could hear it hiss angrily but the copperhead didn't even try to bite her.

"These snakes are among God's noblest creatures," lectured the girl sternly. "You must learn to treat them with respect and they will know you as their friend." Then, without another word, snake still held firmly in her delicate hands, the girl turned and disappeared the way she had come. All Tim could do was stare in shocked disbelief.

"MCGEE!!!"

Cursing, McGee quickly snatched up his pack and began the scramble back to the top of the ravine. Why did these things always seem to happen to him?


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

The team returned to the Navy Yard tired and unsure if they had a case or not. That would depend on Ducky's findings. McGee wearily dropped his pack beside his desk and collapsed into his chair. God, he was so ready to go home.

"Hey, McGoo!" called Tony tossing a ball of paper at his partner. "Did you send those photos down to Abby?"

"No, Tony," replied McGee irritably. "We don't even know if we have a murder yet."

"Doesn't matter, McScrewup" grinned Tony leaning back in his chair. "We need all evidence turned in just in case! So, get your little Probie butt down there and give her the photos."

Grumbling, McGee grabbed his pack and dropped it loudly on his desk. As he began to reach for the zipper pull he frowned. The pack wasn't fully closed. Examining it more closely, he realized that the zipper had split open, undoubtedly as a result of his fall down the hill. With a sinking feeling he began to dig through the pack, his feeling of desperation growing rapidly. Finally, he stopped, slowly stood and with slumping shoulders sighed miserably. "It's gone."

"What's gone, Probie?" asked Tony absently. He was digging through his desk looking for that Twinkie he knew he'd left there last week.

"The camera," moaned McGee softly. He collapsed back into his chair and buried his face in his hands. "The boss is gonna kill me for sure."

"You _lost_ the camera!?" Tony's eyebrows shot up his head in disbelief. "Oh, ho ho, Probie," he chortled, "You are indeed, dead meat!"

"Tony, this isn't funny!" snapped McGee wretchedly "He's already threatened to send me back to the basement and if this doesn't send him over the edge, nothing will."

Tony felt a surge of pity for his junior agent. McGee looked positively downtrodden and yeah, he was right, Gibbs would be furious.

"_What_ will send me over the edge, McGee?"

Tim looked up to see Gibbs staring at him expectantly. Tim felt sick. He dropped his gaze to the floor, unable look Gibbs in the eye. "Um, Boss, I…uh…seem to have lost the camera." He blurted this out as quickly as he could. He fought the instinct to duck.

There was a long silence. McGee glanced up to find Gibbs glaring at him so coldly that McGee couldn't even move. This was even worse than he'd imagined.

You…_lost_…the camera?" Gibbs voice was low and dangerous. "The very expensive evidence camera that we waited nine months to get? The one that now supposedly has photos taken from a potential crime scene? I am assuming, of course, that you actually took those photos, McGee but for all I know you took pictures of your _damn foot_!" His voice was rising dramatically. "And you _LOST IT_!?"

Tim's mouth opened and closed several times before he finally managed to make a sound. "I…I, uh…must have lost it when I fell down the hill, Boss. It _must_ still be there!"

"_Ya think, McGee_?" snarled Gibbs. "Well, then I suggest you get your ass back out there and _find it_!" Gibbs turned and stalked towards the elevator. "I'm going to see Ducky."

McGee cringed in humiliation as he slowly picked up his jacket and turned to where Tony was watching Gibbs stalk across the room and disappear into the elevator. "Whoa Probie," Tony marveled shaking his head, "I don't think even I've ever made him _that_ mad!"

"Shut up, Tony," growled Tim. "I gotta go. It's gonna be dark by the time I get there and I don't wanna have to search all night."

"Oooh, good point, Probie!" chuckled Tony leaning forward on his elbows. "You never know what kind of psychos lurk in those deep, dark woods…Michael Myers…Leatherface…Jason Voorhees! Just be sure you keep your clothes on. You know how those psychos always go for the cute young things running around in their underwear!"

McGee just glared at him and punched the elevator button. This could be a very long evening.

* * *

Gibbs found Ducky hovering over the body of their dead marine carefully examining the man's arm. "Whataya got, Duck?" Gibbs asked. He had finally managed to wrestle his temper back under control. He was so fed up with McGee right now it was best the young man was out of his sight for awhile.

"Ah hello, Jethro," greeted the Medical Examiner warmly but one look told Dr. Mallard that Gibbs was not in the mood for cheerful banter this afternoon. He decided it was best not to press. "Well, upon careful examination, I can say that although our young lieutenant here did technically drown, he was already dying when he fell into that pond."

Gibbs looked at him impatiently. "Dying of what? Was he shot? Stabbed? What?"

"Poisoned," replied Ducky triumphantly. "Here, Jethro, look at this man's arm. What do you see?"

Gibbs studied the arm carefully. "Looks like it's about twice the size of the other one. Looks pretty bad."

"Exactly!" grinned Ducky turning the arm over. "Now look here. Do you see those two puncture marks?"

Gibbs leaned forward and could make out a pair of large puncture marks approximately two or three inches apart. "Snake bite?"

"Yes, indeed! This poor fellow was dying from the bite of what I suspect to be a _Crotalus horridus horridus_ better known as the timber rattlesnake although it could possibly have been a diamondback or perhaps even a copperhead. I've sent a blood sample to Abby for analysis but regardless this man would have died even if he hadn't stumbled into that pond."

"So, you're saying it was an accident? Guy got bit by a snake, tried to get help, fell into the pond and drowned?"

"Well, that _is_ the most likely scenario," agreed Ducky, "except for one thing. Look at his wrists and ankles. See the bruising? At some point this man was being held in restraints. This happened at most a day or two before he fell into the pond. Maybe he had been trying to escape when he was bitten. That, however, is a piece of the puzzle I can't help you with, Jethro. Have you identified him yet?"

Gibbs shook his head. "I've got Ziva working on it now. It woulda helped if he'd had some ID on him. Ok, thanks Ducky. I think we better treat this as a murder for the time being."

***************

By the time McGee had reached the forest clearing, the sun had long set and the early spring night was very dark and very cold. Tim picked up the flashlight from the seat next to him, climbed out of the car and glanced around nervously. This place was creepy enough in the daytime but was ten times worse at night.

Muttering curses under his breath, Tim cautiously shone the light along the edge looking for the spot where he had fallen earlier in the day. Carefully he began his descent, picking his way through the rocks and dense underbrush as he apprehensively kept an eye open for snakes. His encounter with the copperhead earlier that day had made him wary. He waved his light back and forth hoping the camera would at least catch the light but so far, there was nothing. Cursing even louder, he stumbled and slid several feet further down the steep slope.

Tim methodically worked his way farther down, back and forth searching relentlessly. He knew he couldn't go back without the camera. Finally, he reached the bottom of the slope with nothing but some scrapes and scratches. He sighed as he flashed his light around. He was now in narrow ravine with a stream running through it. He jumped as a large shape leaped past him. He jerked the light around just in time to see the white flash of deer's tail as it bolted around the curve of the ravine. Laughing nervously, he shook his head and continued his search. He looked back up the slope. It was unlikely the camera had fallen this far. It must be at least 30 feet back to the top. He'd have to head back up.

With another deep sigh of frustration he readied himself to begin the ascent when he paused. Did he just hear a scream? He frowned and looked down the stream. He couldn't see anything but perhaps he should take a look just in case. He hesitated knowing he had no back-up. What if he did run into something? He looked back up the hill then sighed again. He was sworn to uphold the law and sometimes that meant taking chances. He thought of the girl he'd met earlier in the day. What if it had been her? That decided him. He could never live with himself if he'd ignored a cry for help.

Watching the ground carefully, he made his way alongside the stream. He tried to be as quiet as possible and a few times found it easier to simply wade through the narrow stream than break through the dense foliage. He made his way about a hundred yards down the stream and finding nothing decided to turn back but he was halted by another cry in the darkness. Tim froze and listened hard. It sounded like the noise had come from just a little farther downstream. Carefully he moved further along and shut off his light. He waited a few moments for his eyes to become accustomed to the dark although the moon was just bright enough to allow him to see some of his surroundings. The ravine now opened into a small valley and about fifty yards from the stream, Tim could now make out a small white building.

Silently he approached the building. It looked like some kind of church with white clapboard sides and a veranda stretching across the front. He could see flicking light shimmering through the windows and a few old vehicles parked nearby so he had to assume someone was in there. As he debated what to do next, he heard a scream so blood curdling , he found himself frozen in place. The sound had definitely come from the building. Pulling his gun from its holster, he hurried forward. If there was someone in trouble, it was his duty to help!

He crept closer to the window closest to him and slowly raised his head to peer inside. What he saw made his blood run cold. He was so shocked that he never heard the man soundlessly approach him from behind until it was too late. Tim felt his head explode in a white hot burst of agony and then all went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

McGee moaned as he slowly came to. He blinked slowly and frowned in confusion at the pale face hovering above him. As it came into focus, he suddenly recognized the girl he'd seen in the woods. His eyes went wide as he tried to sit up. The girl gently pushed him back down.

"Oh no, please, Agent McGee, don't try to sit up yet!" Her soft voice was mesmerizing and McGee just laid back and stared up at her. He felt as if he were looking at an angel. She held a damp cloth to his aching head and looked worriedly at him. "I am so sorry, Agent McGee," she began tucking a few stray strands of her auburn hair back into a braid. "Brother Raymond shouldn't aughta hit you like that. You just took him by surprise. We don't get people sneakin' around at night as a rule."

McGee winced. "Uh, I'm really sorry about that," he replied. "It's just that I heard someone screaming and then when I looked in the window and saw all those snakes…" he trailed off in confusion. She was again looking at him in amusement.

"Agent McGee, I think you might have the wrong impression on what was goin' on here. We are members of the Church of the Rock of Holiness. " He stared at her blankly and she shook her head. "We're serpent handlers."

McGee blinked. "Um, serpent handlers?" he repeated stupidly.

The girl laughed. "Yessir. We believe that handling serpents is a way to show our faith in the Lord. " She got a far off look in her eyes as she began to recite, "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. —Mark 16 verses 17-18." She blushed and looked down at the cloth forgotten in her hands. McGee was enchanted. He barely heard her words as he studied her perfect round face with just a dusting of freckles across her delicate nose and cheeks all framed by a halo of dark red hair.

"Welcome back, Agent McGee."

McGee's attention was abruptly diverted from the lovely girl to the old man that appeared behind her. He frowned a moment. "Uh, Reverend McAbee?" he ventured.

The man nodded curtly. "That's right, young man and this is my daughter, Emmy. Now, perhaps you can explain what you were doin' spyin' on our service this evening?"

"Oh!" gulped McGee struggling to sit up. "I wasn't spying! Uh, not really!" He winced at the pain in his head but soldiered on. "I lost my camera when we were here earlier and had to come back to find it. I, uh, heard someone scream so came to investigate. Honestly, I didn't realize it was some kind of church service!"

McGee now took some notice of his surroundings. He was lying on an old army cot in what appeared to be a small storage room. There were several large wooden boxes stacked along the walls. He was about to continue when he heard a rustling noise coming from one of the boxes. Then he heard a hiss and rattling. His eyes went wide as he turned back to the reverend in surprise.

"Snakes," confirmed McAbee flatly. "Bout thirty of 'em. All poisonous; rattlers, cottonmouths, copperheads, big and small. Use 'em in our services."

McGee frowned as he thought back to what he had seen through the window. There had been several men holding snakes, one had three or four large serpents in his hands. All had a look of ecstasy with their eyes closed and snakes held high in the air. Many others were screaming and waving their hands in the air, while some lay on the floor jerking spasmodically crying out in some incomprehensible language. McGee had never seen anything like it.

"Your …ah, your daughter says you're um…snake handlers?" asked McGee hesitantly still looking at the boxes warily.

"_Serpent_ handlers," corrected McAbee. "And yes, we believe in God's decree that we should take up serpents to show our faith. We also drink poison to the same effect."

McGee was aghast but fascinated at the same time. "_Poison_!? But don't people die?"

McAbee stared hard at him. "Only those whose faith has weakened or gone back on the Lord. Those who have received the Holy Spirit into their hearts have nothing to fear."

McGee was silent as he digested this. He suddenly wanted to know more about these people. Perhaps it was the writer in him but he now had burning desire to attend a snake handler, correction, _serpent _handling church service.

Emmy smiled at him then looked to her father. "Perhaps, Daddy, Agent McGee might like to attend one of our services and see for himself."

Reverend McAbee scowled as he considered this. "I don't know, Emmy," he said slowly. "You know how some of the brethren feel about outsiders. Especially the Law."

"But surely having Agent McGee attend a service could only help. He can explain to the others investigatin' that poor man's death what we're really like. You said that Agent Gibbs fella wouldn't understand." She beamed again at McGee who felt a warm rush through his body. "I do believe Agent McGee is a different sort of man."

Reverent McAbee grunted. "All right. If Agent McGee is so inclined, I have no objection to him comin'" McAbee now turned and picked up something off a table behind him and handed it to McGee. "I do believe this is what you were lookin' for, young man. One of the boys found it after y'all left this afternoon."

McGee held out his hand and took the camera gratefully. "Thank you, sir. Uh, I probably better be going. It's a long drive back to D.C."

McAbee studied him a moment longer. "You look like good people, Agent McGee. I do apologize about what happened tonight but we have had people try to disrupt our services in the past. You are welcome to come back if you wish." He then turned and disappeared through the door.

Emmy helped McGee to his feet. "I best lead you back to your car," she said with a smile. "We don't want you gettin' lost again!" McGee certainly had no objections to spending more time with this beautiful girl, especially when the path back was much easier than the way he'd arrived.

When they reached his car, Emmy turned to him and handed him a small bag. "Your gun and wallet," she said apologetically. "We needed to know who you were." She looked down at the ground, then up through her long lashes. "Agent McGee, I hope you don't think I'm bein' forward but it would mean a lot to me if you would join us this Sunday for services. They start at 7 pm."

McGee smiled back shyly. "I would be delighted to come." He couldn't believe he was so taken with this girl. They'd just met! He could hear warning bells going off in his head, after all, his track record with girls left something to be desired, but he couldn't help himself. Snakes or no snakes, he had every intention of coming back to the Church of the Rock of Holiness.

* * *

When Ziva arrived the next morning, Tony was hard at work. "You must have arrived early," she observed as she took off her coat, "To have arrived before McGee."

Tony glanced at the empty desk across from him. "Yeah, I was surprised he wasn't here when I arrived. Of course," now he grinned up at his partner, "For all we know, he's still traipsing around in the bushes looking for his camera!"

Before Ziva could comment, the elevator doors opened and McGee stepped out, a distracted look on his face.

"Well, well, well, Dr. McLivingston, I presume?" chortled Tony. "Find your camera, McGoo?"

Tim blinked as he turned his attention to his team mates. "Camera? Oh yeah, I found her. _It_, I mean. My camera that is."

Tony and Ziva exchanged bemused glances. "I'm thinking Probie found more than a missing camera in those woods! " Tony stood up and strolled over to McGee's desk. "_Her? _Just what _her_ are you referring to? You find Elly Mae Clampett up in those hills?"

Tim rolled his eyes and glared at Tony in disgust. "I have nothing to say to you, Tony. I found the camera. End of story."

"Have we found the identification of our dead marine, by any chance?" snapped Gibbs striding into the bullpen glaring at his team.

"Uh yeah, Boss," replied Tony scurrying to turn on the plasma where the image of the dead marine appeared. "Lieutenant Noah Amos from Reedville, Tennessee. Currently stationed at Quantico, he was reported missing by his CO five days ago although apparently Amos had been acting peculiar for some time prior to his disappearance."

"Peculiar, how?"

"His CO was a little vague on that," replied Tony. "Said Amos had become distant and kinda belligerent and hyper. Normally he was pretty easy-going but lately he's been moody and short-tempered."

Gibbs thought a moment. "Drugs?"

"Possibly," admitted Tony. "Some of the signs could point to meth or PCP. Something like that although his friends claim he was always strongly against drugs and alcohol."

"I checked his bank records," said Ziva. "It would seem his accounts have very recently been emptied but there are no records of any large expenditures."

"How much money are we looking at?"

Ziva looked down at her notes. "There was $30,000 in his savings account and $10,000 in his checking. The money was taken out in cash over a period of six weeks."

"So, what did he do with the money?" There was silence. Gibbs turned around to glare at them "That wasn't a rhetorical question!" he snapped. "Find out!"

He now turned his attention to McGee. He paused a moment at McGee's distant look. "McGee! You find that camera?"

Again McGee found himself pulled back to reality. "Uh, yeah Boss. I was just about to send the photos to Abby."

"Boss?" asked DiNozzo still looking at the photo on the screen. "Did Ducky determine a cause of death?"

Gibbs sighed. "Said he was bitten by a snake then drowned."

"So, it was an accident?" asked Ziva echoing Gibbs' own words.

"Maybe," said Gibbs, "Except somebody had him tied up right before that snake bit him."

McGee stared in confused horror at Gibbs. _Snake bite_? He looked down at his desk, his mind whirling. A man dies of snake bite just outside a church that specializes in snake handling? That couldn't just be a coincidence, could it? McGee knew Gibbs didn't believe in coincidences and most of the time McGee didn't either but it _could_ happen. After all, he'd run into a copperhead himself in those woods so it stands to reason Lt. Amos could have as well. He knew he should mention this to Gibbs but maybe he could wait until after he went to the church service. That was just the day after tomorrow. As far as he knew, there was no connection between Lt. Amos and the Church of the Rock of Holiness. He thought of Emmy's luminous eyes and felt his heart speed up. Yes, perhaps waiting another day or two wouldn't matter.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Just wanted to thank all of you who have been reading along and especially those who have been kind enough to review! Thanks to all of you for your support!

**CHAPTER FOUR**

McGee arrived at the church at 6:30. He adjusted his tie hoping he was dressed appropriately. What did one wear to a snake handler church? He had no idea but figured if he was overdressed, he could always lose the tie and jacket. He looked around the clearing. There were a few old trucks parked nearby but he could see more people walking in from the surrounding woods. The men were dressed in white button-down shirts and dark pants, most with hair slicked back. The women wore their hair up and conservative dresses with long sleeves, high necks and skirts almost to their ankles. Silently, these people made their way through the light drizzle into the church. Some gave McGee a nod of welcome but others stared at him balefully. McGee swallowed nervously hoping Emmy would arrive soon. He knew he'd never have the nerve to go in alone.

About ten minutes later, Emmy appeared in the doorway of the church, her smile acting as a beacon pulling McGee forward. Grinning foolishly he hurried over to her. "Agent McGee!" she exclaimed in delight. "You came!"

"How could I resist your invitation," he smiled. "And please, my name is Tim."

"Tim," she smiled back. "Welcome to the Church of the Rock of Holiness! We'll be starting in just a few minutes." She led him inside and found them a seat on a pew near the back. McGee nodded to the elderly woman beside him. She stared suspiciously at him until she saw Emmy at his side then she gave a small nod in return. Then she closed her eyes and began chanting quietly to herself. Tim found he had no idea what she was saying. He looked around. Most of the women were seated but several of the men were standing near the altar speaking with Reverend McAbee as he set down a large wooden box. McGee swallowed nervously. Snakes. He also noticed there were several bottles of a dark liquid positioned at either end of the altar. Poison? He wondered.

His attention was now drawn to the front where a man with a large guitar had just settled himself and had begun to play. Several people began to sing softly along with the music and McGee recognized the old song, "Let the Circle be Unbroken". The guitar player was very good and McGee found himself begin to relax. Perhaps this wouldn't be so different from other church services he'd attended, well with the exception of a bunch of poisonous snakes!

After the singing, Reverend McAbee stood up and glared at the congregation for a few moments. Then he began to pace back and forth across the front. Finally he spoke. "I been doing this nigh on twenty years," he began. "I been doin' my best to spread the word of the Lord, to bring the gift of the Holy Spirit to them as don't believe so that they might be saved! Unbelievers, they come to see the serpents, to mock us and tell us how backwards we are." He stared directly at McGee who sank lower in his seat, as McAbee's followers shouted "amens". "But we're just obeying His word! The word of the Lord! He tells us to take up serpents!"

_Yes, He does! Amen!_

"He tells us if we drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt us!"

_No, it won't! Amen!_

"And if we believe, if we take up serpents, if we drink of deadly things, we can lay hands on the ill, the infirm and _they will be healed_!"

_Yes! YES! They will be HEALED! Amen!_

McGee could feel the excitement, the tension rising in the room as the preacher worked the crowd. McAbee's eyes were wild with religious fervor and his congregation was joining him for the ride.

Tim turned to his companion and saw Emmy's eyes were closed and she reached forward with a look of such joyous rapture, Tim felt his own heart swell with love and faith. He'd never felt this excitement at any other church service before! These people truly believed with a faith so powerful that even the threat of death could not dampen it. These were not murderers, just God-fearing people who chose an unorthodox path to God's love.

Tim suddenly noticed people were getting to their feet and moving forward where two men were now dispensing a dark red liquid into small paper cups handing one to each of the faithful. Tim hadn't planned on participating but felt himself pushed along with the swell of the crowd until he found himself near the altar taking his own paper cup. He watched anxiously as the others gulped the contents before finally drinking his own.

"We know who our Savior is and everything is going to _be all right_!" roared McAbee as the music began to swell. Tambourines and a drum had been added to the guitar and the people were on their feet now swaying and singing with all their might. One woman screamed, fell to the floor and began to cry out in some unknown language. A man began jumping up and down, his arms raised high above his head crying out to the Lord. Reverend McAbee, seeming almost to be in a trance reached down and pulled out of the box one of the largest rattlesnakes Tim had ever seen. It must have been close to six feet long and thick around as his arm.

McAbee held the snake high above his head, draped between his outstretched hands as he cried, "I am with the Holy Spirit! The Holy Ghost protects me!" The dry, eerie sound of the snake's enormous rattle was audible even over the music and rapturous cries of the congregation. More men pressed forward eager to take up serpents. McGee gaped in awe as the men snatched the snakes up from the box with hardly a glance, letting them crawl up their arms and wrap around their bodies. One man held two copperheads in one hand and three in another, the snakes hanging loose and relaxed. Snakes were carelessly passed from one person to another as the congregation continued to sing and pray.

McGee felt a growing euphoria overtaking him, making him feel and see everything so much clearer. These were truly God's chosen people! Yes, serpents were the only way to show your faith! How could he not have seen this before? He had been so blind! He turned to Emmy who regarded him with her large, expressive eyes glowing with ecstasy. "You _see_!" she shouted joyously. "You see the Lord and feel the Holy Spirit!"

"Yes," whispered Tim in dumbfounded amazement. "I see! I feel the Holy Spirit within me!" He now turned as if in a trance of his own, moved forward towards the snake handlers. The world had gone silent now and his vision seemed to narrow so all he saw was the snake. It was a black timber rattler, three or four feet long and staring back at him, daring him to approach. Tim moved in closer and closer, his hand extended until he could feel the rough, dry scales of the snake against his skin. His hand closed around the hissing snake and with a cry of triumph Tim lifted the snake above his head.

Never before had he experienced such a rush of power! He had no fear, no thoughts but of the snake, now an extension of himself. The world had disappeared except for the glowing serpent clutched in his hands. McGee felt as if he were now seeing the world through the eyes of the snake. It was the most exhilarating sensation! No longer was he the bumbling, fumbling Timothy McGee, no, he was a _serpent handler_! Nothing could hurt him now! For several long moments McGee reveled in his feelings of power and invincibility but then, gradually he became aware of the sound of his own breathing again, the rattle of the snake's tail, the rhythm of the music and the murmur of the voices. The room came back into focus once more and before he could panic, Tim thrust the snake back in the box and quickly backed away, his head spinning. What on earth had he been thinking!?

He hurried outside, gasping for air before his knees gave way. He felt so strange, so disconnected, his heart pounded wildly within his breast. A moment later, Emmy appeared at his side. "Oh Tim, you did it! You handled! You were sent here for a reason, Tim! You were meant to join us!"

Panting, Tim turned his troubled gaze towards her. She beamed back at him with such joy, he had to smile back. A short while later, the rest of the congregation came out and surrounded him offering their congratulations and praise. Emmy had a firm grasp on his arm as if proclaiming him to be hers. Tim found himself feeling more accepted than he had in a long time. The crowd went quiet as Reverend McAbee strode in amongst them and halted a few feet in front of Tim. The man regarded McGee solemnly.

"Young man, there's not many that would take up a serpent their first time out but you showed us that you are pure of heart and true of faith. You are welcome here always." He then put out his hand and shook Tim's firmly. "You are one of us. Welcome, Brother Timothy."


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Tim hardly remembered the drive back to his home near Washington but the next morning he felt hung over. His head throbbed, his throat was parched and his stomach roiled. _What had been in that drink?_ he wondered miserably. He stared at himself in the mirror. His eyes appeared bloodshot and his face haggard. Part of him would love to call in sick but his sense of duty prevented that. Besides, he didn't want to give Gibbs one more thing to hassle him about. As he turned on the shower he felt a stab of guilt. He knew he needed to tell Gibbs about the snake handler church. He remembered asking Emmy if she'd known Lt. Amos but she'd said no. Tim rubbed his throbbing head. He'd believed her but had he really been in any shape to objectively evaluate someone's answers? He thought of Emmy again and smiled feeling that comforting warmth in his center. He was really falling for her and apparently she liked him too. She seemed like such a nice girl and he looked forward to getting to know her better.

By 8 am, he was at his desk going through all of Lt. Amos' phone records. For the most part, they had been pretty unremarkable – calls to family, friends in the area, local stores, etc. Nothing that stood out - at first. Tim frowned as he noticed a series of calls that had occurred about six weeks previously, all to the same number; a number in Providence, VA.

"Hey, Probie!" Tim looked up to see Tony sauntering in, a large cup of coffee in his hand. Tony paused and regarded Tim thoughtfully. "Looks like our Elf Lord musta had a tough weekend battling all those evil wizards and monster trolls!"

"Shut up, Tony," snapped McGee irritably. He found he had little patience for DiNozzo's sniping this morning. In fact, he found he had to repress a very strong urge to punch Tony in the face. DiNozzo must have sensed something amiss because he backed off, still staring at McGee with a frown. Tim went back to records_. Damn_. This tied Amos to at least the area of the church prior to his death. He remembered Gibbs telling them in the car that Reverend McAbee had given them a phone number in Providence to call if they needed to contact him. Was it the same one? The throbbing in Tim's head grew worse. He knew he had to tell Gibbs about this but he was torn. His thoughts went back to last night and his experience in the church. By the time he'd left, the people there were treating him like some long-lost son. That was a nice switch from his experiences at work. Had he really picked up a giant rattlesnake and held it up over his head? Absently, he examined his hands but they were free of any bites or scratches. He shook his head in frustration. It seemed more like a dream. Then he smiled as he remembered Emmy's warm, soft kiss as he'd gotten in his car to leave. That hadn't been a dream. He could almost feel her lips now…

"_McGee_!" Tim's head snapped up to see Gibbs, Tony, and now Ziva staring at him. "You planning on joining us sometime today, McGee?" growled Gibbs impatiently.

"Sorry, Boss," mumbled Tim getting to his feet to join his team in front of the plasma screen. Again, he suddenly had the urge to lash out at someone. Clenching his teeth he tried to focus on what was going on.

Ziva pushed a button and the image of Lt. Amos' phone records popped up. Tim's jaw tightened. Well, it appeared the decision to bring this up had been taken out of his hands.

"Lt. Amos made six telephone calls to this number in Providence. I have traced it to the Providence General Store." She turned to Gibbs. "That is the number Reverend McAbee gave you, is it not Gibbs?"

"Yep," said Gibbs narrowing his eyes. "It is indeed. Ziva, you and Tony head back to Providence and see if you can find out who Lt. Amos was trying to contact. McGee, find that money."

* * *

It was a long week for the team. Tony and Ziva had had little luck trying to figure out who Amos was calling. The owner of the store said he remembered the calls but claimed the guy kept dialing the wrong number. Then the calls had stopped.

Tim hadn't found anything on the final destination of Lt. Amos' $40,000. They'd interviewed his family and friends and found nothing. For the moment, things were at a standstill.

Tim was finding his time at work increasingly frustrating. He had attended services at the Church of the Rock of Holiness every night this week and after each experience found his need to return and experience again the rapture of snake handling was growing more and more insistent. It's all he thought about, well that and his growing relationship with the beautiful Emmy. Work and dealing with his team mates had become an unwelcome distraction, especially Gibbs. Who really cared about one more dead marine anyway?

Late one afternoon, Ziva went down to the forensics lab to talk with Abby about another case. Abby was sitting in the unusually silent lab staring off into the distance with a troubled look. "Is there something wrong, Abby?" asked Ziva as she approached. "You look worried."

Abby sighed. "I am, Ziva. Something is definitely wrong with McGee."

Ziva was silent for a moment. "I must agree. He seems quite unlike his usual self."

"I know!" exclaimed Abby jumping to her feet and beginning to pace, her hands moving expressively. "I mean, Timmy is usually the nicest, most polite guy you'll ever meet! Always says please and thank you. I mean sometimes you just want to tell him to be rude once in awhile, y'know? But he's not. Well he wasn't. Now he hardly talks to me and when he does it's like he doesn't want to, y'know? Like he'd rather be someplace else? He looks really tired and jumpy and like he's not eating. I'm definitely worried!"

Ziva frowned as she carefully listened to Abby's rapid-fire rambling. Sometimes it took a lot of concentration on Ziva's part to follow Abby's discourse. "I believe I understand what you are saying, Abby. I too, have noticed McGee is behaving oddly. It is like he wants to always break your head off."

"_Bite_…" corrected Abby absently, "_Bite_ your head off." She sighed and plopped herself on her stool. "I just wish I knew what was wrong. I know Gibbs has been riding him kinda hard lately but Gibbs' been under a lotta pressure lately. But McGee should understand that! Has Tony done anything to upset him? You know how Tony doesn't always think about what he's doing and sometimes Timmy gets really ticked…"

Ziva thought about this for a few moments then shook her head. "No, in fact he has been unusually nice to McGee. I think he too senses there is something wrong."

"Hmm," muttered Abby in frustration. "Next time Gibbs comes down here. I'm gonna ask him. Maybe he knows.

******

Gibbs sat at his desk, his own frustration growing with the lack of progress on the case of Lt. Amos but his short temper was due to more than just that. Three marines had been killed in car bombings in the D.C. area over the last month; the last being gunnery sergeant, Matt Stafford, one of Gibbs' oldest Corps buddies. Two teams were already assigned to the case but Gibbs found himself irresistibly drawn to the investigation. Stafford had saved his skin a time or two and Gibbs naturally felt a need to do what he could to find his friend's killer. He pulled a photo out of his desk depicting a group of young, fresh-faced soldiers. Gibbs found his own image with an arm draped loosely over the shoulders of a tall, good-looking young man with a lopsided grin. Gibbs had tried to convince Vance to let his team take over the investigation but Vance had refused saying the other teams had already been involved from the start. This did not sit well with Gibbs who was trying to work in his own investigation on the side. The death of Lt. Amos had been an unwanted distraction.

Gibbs now found his patience definitely stretched thin and found he had little tolerance these days when things didn't go right. He wanted this damn Amos case wrapped up and out of his hair. He and DiNozzo had gone out and interviewed the Reverend again along with a few of the other members of the congregation but no one admitted knowing Lt. Amos and Gibbs had yet to find any evidence that they were lying. He just couldn't come up with a direct connection between the marine and the people in that valley.

He glanced over to where Tony was continuing to look for information about the missing money. McGee was supposed to be doing that. Gibbs shook his head in aggravation. McGee had been totally off his game lately. He couldn't figure out for the life of him what was wrong with the guy. Sure, McGee could be klutzy and insecure but lately it was like he was totally out of it. His entire attitude was off; he was irritable and just barely civil. That was entirely unlike the usually complacent McGee. Gibbs sighed. Maybe he needed to give him some time off. He'd try to find some time to talk to him but Gibbs honestly did not have the time or patience right now to baby him along. If he didn't shape up soon, Gibbs thought grimly, he might even have to consider replacing McGee. Wearily, he stood to head down to Abby's lab. He glanced over at McGee who sat hunched over his computer screen, eyes glued. Gibbs shook his head. Just one more problem to add to his growing pile.

*******************

McGee sat staring at his computer screen. There was nothing on it of any significance and that was important. He had the feeling the others were spying on him; going through his computer and desk when he wasn't around and so it was important he kept things hidden. He felt so jittery this afternoon. He'd been at the church until late last night but had been too wired to sleep. God, he hated coming into this office! These people had no idea what true faith was all about! They lived in their comfortable sterile homes living their comfortable sterile lives. There was no spiritual life there. They were shallow, narrow-minded people. He had learned so much from Reverend McAbee. The man was a virtual saint having given up everything to help those poor mountain people. Tim had been so moved he'd donated $5000 to the church. It was a small price to pay for his own spiritual enlightenment. He would be happy to give even more and the longer he thought about it, the more he thought he should and soon. Who needed material possessions when you had God's love?

He thought about his team mates: Gibbs, Tony, Ziva and even Abby. They meant so little to him now. They never really cared about him. McAbee had shown him that. They were like virtual strangers. His true friends were his fellow snake handlers and his beloved Emmy. He smiled, something he so rarely did nowadays, as he thought of her lovely porcelain features, lithe figure and stunning auburn hair. He desperately wanted to marry her and dreamed about asking her. He knew it was little soon for that but he would try and be patient. He thought she cared for him. There were so many little signs – the way her face lit up when entered the room, the way she touched his hand or face, the tender way she kissed him when no one was looking… He shivered and pulled out his cell phone to look at her photo once more. He'd taken it when she wasn't looking. She said she was shy and didn't believe a person should have their photo taken. Wasn't that akin to making graven images? Maybe so, but McGee could live with it if it allowed him to have her with him always.

"Hey, McGoo!" said Tony appreciatively as he looked over his shoulder. "Who is _that!_? She's gorgeous!" He was tempted to make some kind of smart remark but being around McGee lately required walking on some very thin eggshells.

McGee snapped the phone shut and scowled at his partner. "Nobody. Just a girl. Now, get away from me."

"Okay, okay!" soothed Tony backing off. "I was just askin'! I mean she's one really pretty girl."

McGee's face softened just a little. "Yeah, she really is." Then his face changed, suffused with anger. "But she's not for you, DiNozzo, so don't even think about it!"

"I wasn't!" Tony protested sitting back down at his desk. "Jeeze, get a grip McGee." He shook his head in confusion and settled back into his own seat. He gazed surreptitiously from time to time at his partner. McGee's personality had changed dramatically over the past week and it had Tony worried. It was like he was on drugs or something.

McGee's phone rang. Tony watched as McGee talked to the person on the other line. Again, McGee looked furious at being interrupted and Tony could tell he was barely keeping a lid on his anger. When he hung up, he turned to Gibbs who had just returned with Ziva.

"Gibbs," said McGee tightly. He was about to tell them the state police had located Amos' car in southern Virginia.

"Yeess, McGee?" said Gibbs turning his full attention to Tim. "You finally have something to contribute to this investigation?"

Suddenly, something in McGee snapped and the tight restraints he'd been keeping on his volatile emotions dissolved. Breathing heavily, he leapt to his feet, openly glaring at Gibbs. "No, as a matter of fact I _don't_ Gibbs," he snarled. "And even if I did, why the hell should I tell _you_? All you'll do is call me an idiot or make mock me. _Sorry_ I'm not like Tony or Ziva. I realize I'm a _huge_ disappointment and shoulda stayed down in cybercrimes with the 'rest of the geeks' but I don't need to put up with this abuse any longer. From _any_ of you!" He shot this last at Tony who blinked in shock. McGee yanked out his gun and badge and slammed them down on the desk in front of an astonished Gibbs. "I'm done here. Find yourself another punching bag. " He abruptly turned on his heel and stormed from the room.

Gibbs, Tony and Ziva watched open mouthed as McGee disappeared into the elevator. "What the hell was that all about?" demanded Gibbs now turning to Tony. "You say something to him this morning?"

Tony frowned. "No, Boss and you know as well I do it's been like living with a time bomb this past week. McGee's been ready to explode for days. I don't know what his problem is but it sure wasn't me."

Gibbs jaw tightened. DiNozzo was right and he felt a twinge of guilt. He should have said something to McGee sooner. He knew he would have it had been any of the others. _Damn_. There was something terribly wrong going on and they had better figure it out or they could lose Tim for good.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

Tim exited the building as quickly as he could feeling a lightness he hadn't experienced in a long time. He was free! No more listening to Tony's snide remarks or living under Gibbs' iron fist. Now he could head to Providence and live with _real _people, people who understood him! He could be near Emmy and hopefully make her his. Yet, there was a small inner voice screaming at him.

_Tim! What the hell are doing!? Are you insane? You just threw away your career – something you've worked towards all your life and for what? Snakes? Some fanatical, backwoods religion? A girl!? Don't do it!!! _

But he pushed those thoughts aside as he climbed into his Porsche. He considered the car for a few moments then smiled and headed for the Porsche dealership. An hour later he was driving out of town in a used Jeep and with a large check made out to the Church of the Rock of Holiness.

* * *

The weekend had come and gone and Tony sat at his desk staring at McGee's empty seat, his brow creased with worry. He had tried to talk to McGee over the weekend but hadn't been able to find him. He was thinking about where he should look next for his friend when the phone on McGee's desk rang. Tony leapt up to answer it. "NCIS. Agent DiNozzo speaking."

_Oh, I'm sorry, I was trying to reach Timothy McGee. I have this as his work number._

"Well, Tim isn't here right now, but I'd be happy to give him a message," said Tony hoping for a hint to McGee's problems.

_Oh, Ok. Well this is Jerry Carlton down at Regency Porsche and I found some keys in the car he sold us and wanted to return them to him. Could you let him know we found them?_

Tony stared at the phone in shock. _McGee sold his Porsche_!? His pride and joy? "Uh, yeah, sure, I'll make sure he gets the message."

_Oh and be sure and tell him if that church has any trouble cashing that check to please let me know and I'll take care of it right away._

Tony froze. "Church?"

_Yes, the uh, Church of the Rock of Holiness. Mr. McGee said he had decided to donate the proceeds from the sale of his car to them as a charitable donation. He asked me to make the check out directly to the church but if there's any question about cashing it, I'll make sure it's taken care of._

"Well, I'll be sure and give him the message, Jerry. Thanks for calling." Absently, Tony returned the phone to its cradle. Alarm bells began ringing. The Church of the Rock of Holiness? Wasn't that was Reverend McAbee's church? Since when had Tim been involved with them?

"Something botherin' you, DiNozzo?" Tony blinked to find Gibbs staring at him curiously, a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Yeah, Boss, most definitely," replied Tony slowly. "I just took a call for McGee from a Porsche dealer. Seems McGee sold them his car but had the check made out to the Church of the Rock of Holiness."

Now Gibbs frowned. "That wacko McAbee's church?"

"Yeah," nodded DiNozzo coming to his feet. "When did McGee suddenly become interested in backwoods holy roller churches? I never exactly pictured the Elf Lord attending Sunday services at some hillbilly church. And I certainly can't imagine him selling that car just to give some church the money! Boss, he adored that car!"

Gibbs felt a sinking feeling in his gut. Like DiNozzo, he'd tried to contact Tim over the weekend with no luck. He'd hoped the junior agent would have returned this morning. How could he have been so blind? Something had been obviously wrong with McGee since the beginning of this case and he just blew it off, too obsessed with his own concerns. Now McGee seemed caught up with some weird mountain church. Could it be a cult?

"Gibbs!" Gibbs and Tony turned to see Abby hurrying up to them, her face flushed with excitement. Ziva was right behind her. "We found a connection between Lt. Amos and Reverend McAbee!"

Gibbs tilted his head a looked at them expectantly. Ziva flashed an image of a beautiful red haired girl up on the plasma. It was a Tennessee driver's license. "Hey!" said Tony recognizing the face. "That's the girl that was on McGee's phone!" Gibbs instantly felt his apprehension ratchet up several notches.

"Well, it just so happens that her name is Emmaline McAbee…Amos! Gibbs! She's McAbee's daughter _and_ she was married to Lt. Amos!" Abby was practically bouncing with excitement.

"So, Miss McAbee lied to us when she said she'd never seen Lt. Amos before," commented Gibbs as he studied the photo. "I think we need to have another little talk with her."

"Wait, Gibbs, there's more!" gushed Abby. "I took the photo of Reverend McAbee's that was on McGee's camera and ran it to see if I could get any hits. Well, it turns out the Reverend McAbee's real name is Dewey Clayborn from Reedville, Tennessee. He's a con artist, Gibbs! He's got a record of passing himself off as a preacher in these small churches and then fleecing them. When things get too hot or he decides the well's run dry, he takes off. There are several warrants out for his arrest."

"So maybe that hot chick isn't really his daughter," grinned Tony still eyeing her photograph appreciatively.

"Yes, it appears she truly is his daughter," replied Ziva now studying her computer screen. "As well as his partner in crime. It seems she lures likely men into the church and in some cases marries them. Then, something always seems to happen to these men, and in the case of the husbands, she inherits all their money and possessions. This has happened three times. Four if we count Lt. Amos. However, she has never been officially accused of any wrongdoing. All three deaths were declared accidents."

"She's a black widow!" exclaimed Tony looking less enamored. Suddenly his eyes widened as he turned to Gibbs. "Boss, I think she's set her sights on McGee!"

"DiNozzo," said Gibbs, "Check McGee's bank records. We know he gave the church money from the sale of his car but has he given them any other cash?"

Tony, with Abby's help, quickly accessed Tim's account. He was frankly surprised McGeek had that much cash! Apparently the sales of his book had been quite lucrative of late. "Uh, Boss, there's a withdrawal of $5000 from last week."

Gibbs' mouth tightened. That left no doubt in his mind that McGee had been convinced to start giving large sums of money to McAbee and he was certain that lovely young lady was instrumental in the process of converting McGee. But McGee was no fool. There had to be more to it than a pretty face. McGee's entire personality had changed. Could these people be drugging him somehow? They needed to find out.

He turned to Abby and Ziva. "Good work. Now, we need a warrant to search that church."

"On it, Boss," said Tony getting back to his feet. Now, with any luck, they'd put an end to these two and get their old McGee back!

Gibbs turned and saw Abby standing silently staring at McGee's empty seat. She looked completely bereft by the loss of her friend. He went over and gently placed his arm around her. "Don't worry Abs, we'll get him back."

"You better, Gibbs," she replied softly.

While Tony worked on getting the warrant, Gibbs went down to see Ducky. The M.E. looked up from his paperwork in surprise at the grim look on Gibbs' face.

"Something wrong, Jethro?" he asked turning around to give Gibbs his full attention.

"I think I really blew it with McGee, Duck," said Gibbs quietly.

Ducky simply raised an eyebrow and waited. He knew Gibbs would tell him in his own way.

"This whole thing with Matt Stafford has really gotten to me and I've been takin' it out on the team, most of all McGee. You know how he is…he gets flustered and screws up even more and then I jump on him even harder." He paused. "You heard what happened Friday?"

Ducky nodded. "Yes, I had heard that he'd blown up and essentially resigned. But, Gibbs, his behavior of late has been very unusual according to the others. He has been very volatile and most unlike his usual self. I don't believe you can blame yourself for everything that his wrong with Timothy."

"Maybe not, Duck, but I think I drove him into the arms of the crazy McAbee's church. I just hope it doesn't cost him his life."

******

It took several hours to get the warrant but once they had it in hand, Gibbs, Tony and Ziva were on their way back to Providence and the Church of the Rock of Holiness. They had been there briefly once before when they had spoken to McAbee and some of his congregation about Lt. Amos but it still took a couple of wrong turns before they reached its remote location. Gibbs and Ziva approached the front and peered in through the windows. All was dark and still. Tony went around back and found the door unlocked. He carefully entered but it took only a few moments to see the building was empty. Ziva and Gibbs joined him in the sanctuary.

The church consisted of the large sanctuary with pews lining either side of the center aisle and a raised platform at the front. There was also a small kitchen. Off the kitchen, Gibbs discovered a locked door, probably to a storeroom. In a moment he had the lock picked and the door open. He flicked on the light. It was indeed a storeroom with numerous large wooden crates lining the walls. He stepped closer to them but froze at the distinctive sound of a rattlesnake's rattle. He now saw that the crates weren't really crates at all but cages and all the cages were full of snakes – rattlers, cottonmouths, and copperheads.

Tony and Ziva joined him and stared in shock at the large quantity of poisonous snakes now watching them suspiciously. "What _is_ this?" asked Tony feeling the hairs rise on the back of his neck. These snakes were seriously creepy.

"Looks like this is a snake handlers church," remarked Gibbs flatly. "And if I'm not mistaken, I think we've found the murder weapon in Lt. Amos' death."


	7. Chapter 7

**C HAPTER SEVEN**

The only other item of interest the team located at the church was a small paper cup lodged under a pew. It was stained pink and Gibbs suspected it might be a clue as to the change in McGee's behavior. They next drove to McAbee's home but found it to be empty as well. They decided to head into Providence to see if they could find either McAbee or his daughter.

Finally, they had some luck as they spotted Emmy coming out of the general store with a sack of groceries. Gibbs pulled in beside her as she placed her groceries in the back of an old pick-up. She looked up in surprise as Gibbs climbed out of the car followed by Ziva and Tony.

"Agent Gibbs?" she asked warily. Her father had told her to watch out for these NCIS agents.

"Mrs. Amos." Emmy's face went white at the sound of her married name. "We need you to come with us for questioning in regards to the death of _your husband_, Lt. Noah Amos." Emmy licked her lips nervously and tried to smile. Tony could see why Tim had been attracted to her. She really was enchanting even under such trying circumstances.

"All right, Agent Gibbs," she replied, eyes dropped demurely. "I'll come with you. I have nothin' to hide." Gibbs was unimpressed by her act and mutely held the rear door of the sedan open for her while Ziva got in on the other side. For a moment, Emmy's eyes blazed with irritation but she quickly subdued it and climbed silently in.

*************

Gibbs sat on one side of the table in the interrogation room and silently studied the girl across from him. She sat with eyes closed praying softly. He had to admit, she was very convincing. He checked his watch. They had been there twenty minutes so far and neither had said a word to the other. Finally, Gibbs sighed. "Mrs. Amos," he began. "When we spoke with you earlier, you claimed you had never met Lt. Amos and yet here we find you were actually married to him six weeks ago."

Emmy stopped praying and slowly opened her clear blue eyes. There was a deep sadness there. "Agent Gibbs," she began in her soft, alluring drawl, "I was wrong to tell you I didn't know Noah but you must understand, the church elders and my father had decided he was dead to us and it was if he had never existed. I had no choice."

Gibbs tilted his head and stared hard at her. She blushed and looked down at her hands. "No choice? Your _husband _is dead and you deny he even existed? What did he do that was so awful that everyone decided he was dead?"

Emmy pressed her lips together and quickly brushed a tear from her pale cheek. "Noah believed his faith was strong but in the end, he was proved wanting. His faith in the Lord was weak."

"Because a snake bit him during one of your services?"

Emmy's head snapped up and she now stared back at Gibbs in shocked surprise. "What?"

"You heard me," repeated Gibbs coldly. "We searched your church and found the snakes. Don't you know snake handling is illegal in this state? Anyway, I'm guessin' Lt. Noah tried to handle one on of the snakes and it bit him. I imagine more than one handler in your church has gotten bit but it appeared in Lt. Amos' case it was proving to fatal."

"If his faith had been strong, he wouldn't have gotten sick!" she protested hotly. "My father has been bitten lots of times and never once has he gotten sick! _His_ faith is rock solid!" Her shoulders slumped and she continued softly, "I told Noah I would take him to the hospital, but he refused. He claimed it wasn't that bad and if he went to the hospital that would prove his faith was lacking." For the first time, she seemed to show some genuine emotion. "Noah was a good man and he didn't deserve to die like that. He just wasn't ready."

"So how did he end up in the pond?" asked Gibbs never taking his eyes off her.

"He was afraid I would make him go to the hospital and he ran off." The tears were flowing freely now. "I shoulda followed him; made him go. But he had to prove to himself that he was in with the Lord. When we heard he'd died, Daddy announced that it proved Noah was not the man he believed himself to be, that he had Satan in his heart and to us, it would be as if he'd never existed. I am truly sorry."

Gibbs stared at her for several long moments before abruptly getting to his feet and leaving the room. Emmy stared after him then continued to quietly sob into her handkerchief. Gibbs entered the observation room where Tony, Ziva and Ducky stood watching. "So Duck, waddaya think?"

Dr. Mallard's brow was furrowed in thought. "I believe some of what she is telling you is true, Jethro, but it is difficult to discern which parts. She seems truly remorseful that Lt. Amos is dead but I question the veracity of her description of the circumstances of his death. I believe the church was definitely involved in his being bitten by the snake but whether or not he took up the serpent voluntarily or was forced to is the question. She also fails to explain the existence of ligature marks." Ducky paused a moment regarding the girl another moment or two. "There was a case about ten or fifteen years ago where the pastor of snake handling church was accused of trying to murder his wife by forcing her to repeatedly put her hand in with poisonous snakes resulting in several potentially fatal bites. When he passed out from alcohol, she was able to escape and get help. So, there is precedence of such a crime. It is possible that Lt. Amos might have become suspicious of McAbee's activities and the good reverend decided it was time to put an end to Lt. Amos. The fact that the lieutenant was tied up at some point seems to indicate his participation was not voluntary."

Gibbs nodded. "That's what I'm thinkin'. Do you think it's possible to match the fangs of one of the snakes with the marks on Lt. Amos' arm?"

Ducky's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Well, possibly, but it would be extremely tricky, not to mention dangerous, Jethro! By the size of those marks, we are looking at a very large snake."

Gibbs thought a moment. "I know a guy, a herpetologist, who could probably help. If we can identify the snake that bit Lt. Amos then we can prove McAbee or someone in that church was responsible for his death. I don't think it was any accident, Duck."

"Nor do I, Jethro," replied Ducky thoughtfully. "Hmm. I will have to ask Abby if she has gotten the results back on the snake venom. If we can narrow down the species of snake that would help immensely. Given the size of the bite mark, I think we can probably eliminate the copperhead but any of the rattlers could potentially get that large."

"Great, I'll contact Dr. Meyers at the Smithsonian and have him get in touch with you." Gibbs now turned to Tony. "DiNozzo, you and Ziva take Mrs. Amos back to Providence. Just keep an eye on her. I think she'll eventually lead us to her father."

"What about McGee?" asked Tony. "Couldn't he be in danger from these nutjobs?"

Gibbs sighed and looked back through the window where Emmy now sat quietly praying once more. "I think as long as he still has money in his bank account and hasn't married our charming black widow, he'll be OK. But keep your eyes out for him too."

"Right Boss."

"OK, I'm going down to talk to Abby. Let me know if you find anything." And Gibbs was gone.

It took only a few minutes for him to arrive in Abby's lab. She was staring intently at the results from her mass spectrometer. "Watcha got for me, Abs?"

She whirled around, eyes wide. "Gibbs! I knew you'd be here! You always know when I have something for you! It's so…so hinky!" She grinned happily then took a sip of her Caf-Pow.

"Sooo?" asked Gibbs, one eyebrow lifted.

"OK," began Abby turning to her view screen. "I ran a sample of the pink stuff in the cup Tony brought back from that church. It was mainly fruit juice but heavily laced with some kind of amphetamine, similar to meth. It would make anyone who drank it all jumpy, paranoid, see things, and well, you know, all the stuff meth can do. Perfect if you're trying to convince a church that they're seein' some pretty amazing religious stuff! Oddly enough, there's also some strychnine. Not enough to kill but it could cause some people to go into convulsions. Again, perfect for a guy trying to convince people they're possessed by spirits or what have you."

Gibbs thought for a moment. "If someone was drinking this on a daily basis, could it affect their personality?"

"You mean like McGee? Most definitely!" nodded Abby. "It makes people more susceptible to outside stimuli so if he thinks a girl is pretty she'll be reeeeeallly pretty! It's all about extremes. McGee doesn't take drugs and rarely drinks so his system is like virgin territory! He can't help himself so if those people at that church are feeding him this stuff, they've got him under their control. You know like in those movies? I wonder what that would be like? You know to have someone else controlling your mind? What if they could read your mind, too? I think…"

"Thanks, Abs!" interrupted Gibbs, heading her off before she got really started. He turned to go.

"Wait Gibbs!" she called. "There's more! I compared the results of this test with the blood taken from Lt. Amos and it looks like he was taking the same stuff, lots of it, which would be right if he'd been involved with the church for a couple of months. I also got the results back from the venom test and it was from a diamondback rattler!" She stopped and grinned at Gibbs, obviously pleased with herself.

Gibbs shook his head and smiled back. "Abs, you're the best!"

"Gibbs..." Abby's face was now serious and he could see tears glistening in her eyes. "You gotta find him. Don't let that little witch hurt McGee. I heard what Tony said about her bein' a Black Widow. You can't let her add him to her collection!" She paused now frowning slightly. "He's a good agent, Gibbs, no matter what you think."

Gibbs leaned over and gently kissed her on the cheek. "I will, Abs and I know," he whispered softly then turned and headed back to the elevator. Now, all that had to do is find the most Reverend Josiah McAbee. And hopefully the missing Agent McGee.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Emmy was silent as the two NCIS agents drove her back to Providence. She knew things were about to go sour very quickly and she needed to get in touch with Daddy right away. She thought about poor, stupid Noah. He'd been a nice enough fella with plenty of money in his bank account and under other circumstances, she might have enjoyed being married to him. Oh well. Now she considered her latest conquest, the unequivocally besotted Timothy McGee. The elixir had hit him really hard. She'd never seen anyone taken over quite so quickly by its effects. When he'd handled that snake the first night, she'd actually been worried. Even under the influence of the elixir, most men still needed some time before they are able to subdue their fear of snakes and pick up one. But maybe she shouldn't have been quite so surprised. She'd had a number of long talks with Tim and it was obvious he'd felt a definite sense of inadequacy at work and in his life. His boss had really been coming down on him lately and she'd sensed that Tim didn't have a strong feeling of self-worth outside of his technical and writing abilities. She smiled faintly. He had been the perfect target: someone with a sizeable bank account and little in the way of self esteem.

She silently cursed. Now she and Daddy would have to disappear again. Not that leaving this remote hell hole would be that difficult but she was getting tired of having to start over again and again. However, their bank account was growing nicely and she was hoping to convince Tim to donate even more money soon, maybe to the church's fictional "relief fund". The last check he'd given them from the sale of his Porsche had been a substantial shot in the arm. Unfortunately, with the feds breathing down their necks, she didn't think there would be enough time to marry McGee and get rid of him without being way too obvious. She glanced at the two agents in the car and smiled again. Then again, maybe she could still work it out…

McGee stood on the side of the mountain and looked out at the majestic beauty of the Appalachians. Some of the oldest mountains in the New World could be found here and McGee loved the feeling of age as he studied the mist covered elevations. How could he have ever found life in the city gratifying or remotely spiritually fulfilling? Here, here was a place you could fully experience God's love and he could finally live among people who truly appreciated him and made him feel wanted. He smiled happily as he recalled Reverend McAbee's heart-felt gratitude at the check from the car dealership McGee had given him. The man had even shed tears as he shared the glorious news with the congregation telling them this money could be used to help their missionaries in Guatamala or was it Haiti? Anyway, the reverend had been completely overwhelmed by Tim's generosity and that made Tim feel wonderful. But what had made him feel even more wonderful was when the reverend confided to Tim that Emmy was quite taken with the ex-NCIS agent and had even told her father she would love to someday become Tim McGee's wife. Tim lifted his face to the warm spring sun and smiled happily. Even now he planned on asking Emmy to marry him as soon as he could. How could life get any better than this?

Ziva and Tony dropped Emmy off at her car then decided to head back to the church for one last look around. This time there were several vehicles parked nearby. Did one of them belong to McAbee? The two agents parked under a budding oak tree and cautiously approached the building. They could hear voices inside. When they reached the open door to the church, they could see four or five men standing near the front talking. Several of the snake boxes were on the table in front of them and it seemed the men were discussing the various snakes within.

"Tony!" hissed Ziva grabbing his arm. "Look! It is McGee!"

Tony looked again and realized why he hadn't noticed McGee initially. McGee had only been gone a few days but the change in his appearance was dramatic. It didn't look like he'd slept in days and his appearance was disheveled to a degree that the McGee they knew would never have tolerated. He seemed twitchy and anxious, always in movement, his eyes and body never still. His clothes hung loosely upon his tall frame and face was dark with several days' worth of stubble.

"He looks like Nick Nolte on a bad day!" muttered Tony appalled at Tim's decline. Without a word to Ziva he stepped inside and approached the men and snakes. "Tim!" he called merrily, "How great to see you! We've missed you back in the city! How's it goin, man?"

As one, the men turned to stare at Tony and Ziva, their expressions full of suspicion and hostility.

"What are you doing here, Tony?" demanded Tim coldly, his bloodshot eyes not quite focusing on DiNozzo. "You're not welcome here."

"Now, Tim," smiled Tony still approaching his hands held up in front of him. "Can't a guy come by and say hello to his old buddy? We heard you'd joined the Church of the Rock of Holiness and figured we'd drop by while we were in the area! There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

Tony was carefully watching the other men out of the corner of his eyes while Ziva hung back in case there was trouble. The silent group split allowing Tony through to where Tim stood regarding his former partner with a baleful expression. "Whoa, Tim, those are some amazing snakes in there!" remarked Tony hoping to find some common ground to start a conversation. "What kind are they?"

Tim said nothing for several moments then grudgingly muttered, "Rattlers, copperheads, and cotton mouths."

Tony's eyebrows shot up. "Wow, aren't those dangerous? I mean, what if you get bitten?"

There was a dark muttering behind him as the other men began to get restless. Tim was fighting to keep his temper under control. "They're only dangerous to those whose faith in the Lord is weak, DiNozzo. True Believers have nothing to fear." Suddenly Tim smiled, lifted the lid of the nearest box and pulled out a large hissing copperhead. He thrust the snake at Tony. "Are _you_ a True Believer, DiNozzo?" he demanded his eyes wild with a strange religious fervor that Ziva, who was watching at a distance, found distinctly unnerving. "Are you!?"

Tony leapt backwards almost tripping over the man behind him."Hey McGee! Watch it with that snake!" cried Tony angrily. "You could hurt somebody with that thing!"

Tim's eyes were wide giving him a deranged appearance as he began to advance towards DiNozzo, still holding the furious, writhing snake in his hands. "Then perhaps you'd better get out of here, Tony, before _you_ get hurt! _We _are all True Believers! _We_ have nothing to fear!"

"Okay, okay, Tim!" said Tony in a soothing tone, backing away now. "We'll go. We didn't mean any harm. Come on, Ziva."

Together, the two agents made their way from the church back to their car. Tony slipped in behind the wheel and sat silently for several moments. "They've definitely got him drugged," he said finally looking back at the church. "There is _no way_ McGee would pick up a poisonous snake if he were in his right mind!"

"I agree," replied Ziva with a frown. "I watched him carefully. His eyes were never quite focused. He was jittery and uncontrolled. The other men, also, but not to quite such a degree. Perhaps they have developed some kind of resistance to the drug or have not consumed as much as McGee."

"Yeah," agreed Tony starting up the engine. "We gotta figure out a way to McGee outta here. It's only a matter of time before one of those monsters bites him and you know McGee, he's got so many allergies he's probably allergic to the antivenom!"

McGee stood by the doorway watching Tony and Ziva drive away. He had already returned the snake to its box. He felt troubled. He shouldn't have done that with the copperhead. The snakes hadn't been prayed over yet and he could have easily been bitten for treating the snake so callously. But it was more than that. He had actually felt a surge of happiness when he'd first seen Tony and Ziva walk in but then it was if another mind had taken over, reminding him that these were the Enemy, those who didn't Believe and should be shunned.

"Brother Timothy?" One of the men had approached him. "You all right, son?"

Tim gave him a wan smile."Yes, Brother Ewell, I'm fine." McGee took one last look as Ziva and Tony disappeared down the road then turned to rejoin the others. This is where he belonged now.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N Just wanted to thank all of you for taking the time to read and review. I really appreciate it!

**CHAPTER NINE**

Emmy found her father in his little cabin he kept about a mile from the house. Those select few that knew of its presence believed it was where the good Reverend went to meditate and commune with the Lord. Emmy knew better. Other than the front room which was furnished in a simple, rustic style in case anyone should inadvertently come by, the cabin was fixed up like a luxury condo with all the latest in electronic gadgets. This was where Dewey Clayborn hung out.

McAbee was sitting at his computer, a Jack Daniels near at hand and a cigar firmly clamped between his lips. "Hey, sweetheart!" he greeted his daughter when she came in. "Where you been?"

"NCIS headquarters," she said flatly pouring herself a glass of wine before settling into a large leather sofa. "Dad, I think we got problems. They know I was married to Noah and they think he was bitten during one of the services."

"Damn," cursed McAbee turning to look at her. "What did you tell them?"

Emmy shrugged. "The usual drivel. That his faith wasn't pure, he was dead to us, yada, yada, yada. You know the drill. But I think they're close to figuring out who we really are. I do believe it's time for the good Reverend McAbee and his dear daughter move on to greener pastures."

McAbee cursed again as he rose to his feet and began to pace the room. "We're runnin' outa places to go, Emmy dear. We need more cash before we can leave the country and settle down someplace. How much more do you think we coulda gotten out McGee?"

Emmy cocked her head as she thought. "Well, he told me he had another $250,000 in cash mostly from his book sales. I think he's also got quite a bit invested stocks, bonds, you know, that kinda thing. His book was really successful and of course, there are also the royalties."

"Hmm," said McAbee thoughtfully, "I think it's time we reeled McGee in. You shoulda seen the look on his face when I told him you dreamed of being his wife! If it hadn't been so pathetic, I woulda laughed. Putting that poor sap out of misery will be doing him a huge favor!"

Emmy looked a little troubled. "Do we really have to kill him off?" she asked.

McAbee turned and stared hard at her. "You aren't goin' soft on me, are you? You know full well we'd never get the money if we don't get rid of him. Don't you remember what happened with that Franklin fella?"

Emmy looked down at her wine and nodded. Oh yes, she remembered. He's what started all this. Jake Franklin had been a big, good looking guy down in Alabama and the owner one of the largest pig farms in the county. Not exactly glamorous but definitely lucrative and Emmy had managed to lure him into their church. Under the influence of the elixir, he had fallen for her hook, line, and sinker and became highly active in the church but Emmy couldn't convince him to donate any money. So, she married him, thinking that as his wife, she would have more control over his money. She couldn't have been more wrong. She quickly discovered Jake was a monster in his own right who'd been playing her like she'd been playing him. He beat her savagely and threatened to expose her and her father if they didn't toe the line. Sadly for Jake Franklin, he was the first in a list of young men to die in unfortunate accidents. In his case, he'd gotten drunk and drowned in the sewage holding pond on the farm. At least that's what the police report said. Emmy quickly sold off the farm and the money was soon safe and sound in an offshore account but the experience had convinced her and her father that getting rid of the guy was the best policy.

McAbee resumed pacing. "We gotta get you two married quick as possible. As long as that dolt is under the influence of the elixir it shouldn't be too tough for you to convince him of a speedy wedding. Then, I think it might be time to introduce him to Beelzebub." He laughed as he took another gulp of his whisky. Emmy simply sighed in resignation and got to her feet.

"I guess I'll go look for Tim." She paused thoughtfully. "You know, I think that elixir is hitting him a lot harder than the others. He doesn't look too good."

McAbee shrugged. "Well, maybe that'll do him in for us but you better hope it's not before we get our hands on his money."

Emmy placed her wine glass on the bar and nodded as she left. She certainly didn't love Tim McGee but she did feel a little sorry for him. He really was a decent guy and didn't deserve any of this but what could she do? This was business and in the end, money was all that mattered.

Tim wandered into the empty church building. He felt so weird, so disconnected from the world. It was hard to explain. One moment, he would be experiencing a joyful euphoria so powerful he thought his heart would explode. The next moment, he would find himself in the pit of darkest despair contemplating ending his own life. Last night had found him standing on the edge of an abyss in the mountains wondering if he should take that one extra step. Only thoughts of Emmy brought him back. His thoughts were jumbled and confused. He couldn't seem to concentrate on anything. He'd hardly eaten or slept in days. He lived for the nightly services and for the moments he could spend with Emmy. But every now and then thoughts of his former life would seep through. He could hear his parents and sister calling to him. He could see DiNozzo's cocky grin or Ziva's mysterious smile. Abby's face would suddenly appear in his thoughts and he could imagine her scolding him for his foolish behavior and demanding he come home to where he was loved. Loved. Ha! McGee shook his head with a bitter grimace. They didn't love him there. They were simply work associates. They tolerated him because they had to but they didn't really care who sat in the computer geek seat as long as the job got done. He imagined Gibbs was delighted to finally get rid of the bumbling McGee.

McGee sat down heavily on one of the pews; his head suddenly pounding as nausea roiled through his gut. He felt awful. He looked towards the altar and wished he had more of the elixir used during the services. That always made him feel so much better. He chewed on his lip for a moment. Maybe he could find where it was kept. Just a little wouldn't hurt anything but could make a world of difference to him. He climbed unsteadily to his feet and gripped the pew back as the world spun around him. He took several long, deep breaths to steady himself before moving on.

He looked quickly around the small kitchen but found none of the distinctive bottles of elixir. He now faced the storage room door. The snakes were in there he knew, but what about the elixir? Despite the chill in the air, McGee was sweating heavily and his hands were shaking. He turned the knob and almost cried when he found it locked. He knew he should have expected that but the reality of it was like a physical blow. With a snarl of anger, he began to throw himself physically at the door, his desperation giving him the strength to finally break through the flimsy paneling. Panting, he cast around wildly for the bottles. With a cry of relief, he spied one on a shelf above the snake cages. Snatching it up, he was immediately disappointed to find it was nearly empty but perhaps that was a good thing. He yanked off the top and gulped down the overly sweet contents in a single swallow. Dropping the bottle, his knees gave way and he slowly collapsed onto the floor. Within moments, he sighed in relief as he could feel the magical substance take effect.

His smile of relief quickly turned into a grimace of pain as his body abruptly contorted itself into a painful convulsion. His face and neck stiffened and his legs and arms began to spasm uncontrollably. His teeth clenched so tightly he thought they would fracture and he could barely breathe. The convulsion seemed to go on for hours but in reality was only a minute or two but when McGee's body finally relaxed he lay panting and exhausted. _That had never happened before!_ He thought in dismay. Slowly, shakily, he sat up and leaned against the wall, his eyes closed as he tried to calm his wildly beating heart.

_It's because you took it when you weren't supposed to, idiot! _McGee scolded himself. Like handling the snakes, the elixir was only meant for the services. He opened his eyes and looked across at the cages of snakes. He felt as if they were all regarding him with hard, accusing eyes. He was just as big a bungler here as he had been in NCIS. For one reckless moment, he seriously considered just thrusting his hand in the cage with the snakes and letting them bite him. Just end all this bumbling once and for all.

"Tim?" McGee looked up with heavy, bloodshot eyes to see Emmy standing in the doorway, her face creased in concern. "Oh my, Tim, what has happened to you? Are you all right?" She hurried over to him and took his hand in hers and gently kissed it.

McGee looked away, fighting back tears. He didn't deserve this wonderful woman. She could do so much better than him. "I'm fine, Emmy," he muttered still not looking at her. Emmy noticed the empty elixir bottle but said nothing.

"No, you're not," said Emmy mournfully. "You are suffering greatly and I believe I know the cause."

Now Tim looked at her in confusion. Emmy smiled at him, tears shimmering in own round blue eyes. "I love you, Timothy McGee." She leaned over and now kissed him hard on the lips. McGee's eyes opened wide in surprise but he quickly responded.

After a few moments he pulled away and looked nervously at the beautiful young woman beside him. He took a deep breath. "Emmy," he began swallowing hard, "I know I don't deserve you but you are the most wonderful, the most beautiful woman I have ever met in my entire life and I…I…uh…wonder if you would do the honor of becoming my wife." His mouth snapped shut and he realized he had never felt so terrified in his entire life. He glanced quickly at Emmy, afraid of what he might see. There were tears in her eyes and for just a brief instant, he thought he saw pity there but then she smiled.

"It would be my honor," she said and she kissed him once more.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

The wedding took place two days later. It was a private affair with just the members of the church attending while Reverend McAbee performed the service. Tim had managed to pull himself together and looked fairly presentable. Emmy was radiant in an old fashioned ivory lace gown that she claimed had been her mother's. Tim was oblivious to everything but her. The ladies of the congregation had put together quite a spread which they laid out on tables under the budding trees. The day was unseasonably warm and McGee took this as a sign that things were only going to get better for him.

Back in D.C., It had taken a couple of days for the team to find a reputable herpetologist who could help them. Gibbs' friend was currently in South America studying snakes in the rainforest of Brazil so was unavailable. Dr. Hauser worked for the University of Florida and had spent many years studying poisonous snakes. He felt he could help them identify their culprit.

Warrant in hand, Gibbs, Tony and Ziva returned to the Church of the Rock of Holiness with Ducky and Dr. Hauser in tow. Dr. Mallard had made a cast of the puncture wounds in Lt. Amos' arm and they hoped to match it to one of the snakes at the church. When they reached the church, a stout, sandy haired man stood by the door to greet them.

"What do ya'll want?" the man grunted sullenly. "You have no business here."

Impatiently Gibbs pulled out the warrant and thrust it at the man who looked at it like it might bite him.

"We have a warrant to search this church and we're especially interested in your collection of snakes," replied Gibbs staring hard at the man. The man's eyes widened in surprise but then with a grunt of disgust the man turned and led them to the store room. Gibbs' lifted an eyebrow in surprised at the shattered door. "Had a little accident?"

The man glanced at the door and shrugged. "Here's the snakes. Be careful. They don't cotton to strangers. Especially Unbelievers." He stepped back out of the way and watched the team warily.

Dr. Hauser approached the cages cautiously and gave a low whistle. "Wow, there sure are a lot of snakes in here! Some real beauties too." He studied the snakes looking for a likely candidate and then frowned moving in for a closer look. His frown grew deeper.

"Agent Gibbs," he said finally turning to look at the agent behind him. "I'll have to examine them a little more closely but I suspect none of these are the snake that bit your marine."

"How can you tell by just lookin' at 'em, Doc?" asked DiNozzo leaning in just slightly. He was leery of getting much closer. His experience with Tim and the copperhead had been close enough.

"Well, looking at least these bigger specimens it looks to me like they've all had their poison sacs removed. If that's the case, they can deliver a painful bite but it would be harmless. These snakes couldn't kill anyone."

Hearing a strangled cry behind him, Gibbs turned to look at the man standing in the hallway. The man was staring at the herpetologist in shocked disbelief. "That can't be true!" choked the man.

Dr. Hauser glanced back at the cages once more and shrugged. "Well, until I examine them, I can't be sure _all_ the snakes have been neutralized but it's obvious from the scars that these big ones have been. It would certainly explain why none of the handlers in this church have died from snake bite. In most serpent handling churches almost all the handlers have been bitten at least once and I've never heard of a church that's never lost even one to snake bite."

"Do you keep more snakes someplace else?" asked Gibbs turning to the man again. The man, staring at the snakes with a combination of confusion and betrayal didn't seem to hear Gibbs. Gibbs rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Hey! You! Snake guy! You gotta name?"

The man tore his eyes away from the cages of snakes and focused Gibbs once more. "I'm Brother Ewell Johnson. These are the only ones we've ever used in the two years I been here," muttered the man sullenly.

"Have you ever been bitten by one of these?" inquired Ducky peering down at the man's arms and hands.

"Yeah, I been bit mebbe five or six times," admitted Brother Ewell. "Never got sick though. I been a faithful believer this whole time." Now he was beginning to sound angry.

"Where did these snakes come from?" asked Gibbs.

"Reverend McAbee brought 'em," Ewell replied. "Sometimes somebody else would bring one they'd caught but the Reverend said only special serpents could be used." Now he laughed bitterly. "I guess we know why they was so special."

"So unless they brought in a ringer snake," said DiNozzo thoughtfully, "Emmy was lying about Lt. Amos being bitten during a ceremony."

Brother Ewell looked at them in surprise. "Brother Noah weren't never bit durin' a service. He never handled the serpents. The Reverend said he weren't strong enough in his faith as yet."

"Yet the lieutenant was bitten by a snake, yes?" asked Ziva looking at Brother Ewell.

"Well, yeah," replied Ewell slowly. "The Reverend said it was a wild one though. Not one o' ours. These hills are practically swarmin' with snakes. Coupla people die ever' year from snake bite." It was evident however, that Brother Ewell was beginning have doubts about McAbee's veracity.

"Do you know where we can find Reverend McAbee or his daughter?" asked Gibbs beginning to feel things were moving too quickly.

Brother Ewell shook his head. "Ain't seen neither one o' them since Miss Emmy married Brother Timothy yesterday afternoon."

Gibbs felt his heart sink. Tony, Ducky and Ziva gaped at the man in horror. They were too late.

Tim stretched and with a big yawn opened his eyes. He glanced to his right and saw with a pang that the other side of the bed was empty. He sat up and looked around feeling slightly panicked. "Emmy?"

She appeared a moment later fully dressed and carrying a tray full of food. "I woke early, darling," she cooed sitting the tray on Tim's lap, "And decided to fix you some breakfast." They had spent their wedding night in the little cabin Tim had been renting. It was simple but clean and although Tim had tried to convince her they should go someplace else, she said she couldn't imagine starting her life as a married woman any place grander. Tim gave in but promised they would go on a real honeymoon soon. She just smiled and kissed him.

This morning she looked a little troubled as she sat on the bed watching him picking at his food. He really had no appetite but was making an effort to eat what she had prepared for him. "My love," she finally said turning her worried eyes to his. "I have something very serious to talk to you about."

Tim looked up from his eggs and frowned in concern. "Is something wrong? Did I do something I shouldn't have?"

Emmy gently smiled and touched his face. "Oh no, my dearest, you could never do any wrong. No, it's the members of the church. They have…concerns." She looked down at her hands, her pretty mouth pursed in worry. Tim forgot about his eggs entirely as he lost himself in her beauty. For a brief instant, Emmy looked exasperated then said a little more forcefully. "_Serious_ concerns, Tim…about your faith."

Tim blinked in confusion. "What? My faith? What about it? I truly and completely believe! I have clothed myself in the cloak of the Holy Spirit!" Inwardly, Emmy winced. She could hear her father's voice in those words.

"Yes, yes, I know, beloved!" she soothed, "But others still see you as an Outsider and worry you were sent here as a Judas bound to betray us. They remain unconvinced that you are True."

Tim felt anger surge as he shoved aside his breakfast tray causing it to crash to the floor. "How dare they!?" he demanded now on his feet glaring at his new wife. "I have handled serpents and remain unscathed! I have drunk of the blessed elixir and have seen the Lord! I have been blessed with the most wonderful wife possible! What more proof do they need?"

Emmy watched him unhappily. Quietly she brushed away a single tear and whispered. "You must meet Beelzebub."

Tim whirled to stare at her. "What? Who the hell is Beelzebub?"

Emmy's face fell as she collapsed sobbing onto the bed. Horrified, Tim ran to her side and embraced her. "I'm sorry, Emmy! Please just tell me what I'm supposed to do and I'll do it! You know I will! Anything for you!"

Through tear washed lashes Emmy smiled bravely up at her husband. She gently reached up and caressed his face. "Oh Tim, my dearest beloved, I know you will. Tonight we will meet with Daddy and the most trusted Elders and they will introduce you to Beelzebub but until then, you must pray and purify yourself! Once you have passed this trial, the world will know you to be one of us and we will be together for always!"


	11. Chapter 11

A/N Since I may not be able to post for a few days, I thought I would go ahead and put up the next three chapters since I had them ready. I hope you enjoy them. Thanks!

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

Gibbs was furious. No one had seen either McAbee or McGee since the wedding the day before and no one knew or were willing to say where McGee had been staying since he moved to the mountains. Unless they could find the snake that bit Lt. Amos they really couldn't prove that it had been done on purpose despite the fact they were certain it had been murder. None of the snakes in the store room could have delivered the fatal bite. Even if they'd all had their poison sacs intact, none was remotely big enough. Gibbs was certain the answer lie with McAbee. Gibbs suspected he had a poisonous snake hidden away someplace that he brought out as needed. They'd thoroughly searched his house with no results and now he was worried they'd skipped town but where did that leave McGee? Was he with them? Was he even still alive? Gibbs rubbed his aching head.

He couldn't help but feel he'd pushed McGee into this. Gibbs again felt that rush of guilt. Matt's case hadn't been his and he shouldn't have let it interfere with the running of his own team. Despite his skill and intelligence, McGee's self-confidence could be shaky at the best of times and unfortunately, when pushed too hard, McGee became more insecure than ever. Gibbs should have remembered that. He sighed. Now McGee was married to a woman they were certain had been responsible for the deaths of at least four other men. She knew they were suspicious of her and he felt in his gut that she and her father would waste no time in getting their hands on Tim's money and once that happened, McGee was as good as dead. He would have Abby check on that as soon as possible.

He decided to leave Tony and Ziva in Providence for a few days to see if they could get any leads on the McAbees or McGee. Finding the Reverend was the only way they could ever solve this case. It just never got easier.

Now came the part he really dreaded: telling Abby. He had promised her that he would keep Tim safe from Emmy and her father and now the worst had happened. How was he going to explain to her that not only had McGee married the girl but they couldn't find him?

The elevator doors opened onto the forensics area. The lab was silent as Gibbs stepped out peering around for the young woman. "Abby?"

He walked in further and found her huddled in her desk chair gripping Bert, her stuffed hippo as if he were the only thing keeping her together. She refused to meet Gibbs' eyes. Gibbs stepped closer. "Abs? You all right?"

There was a long moment of silence. "He did it, didn't he, Gibbs?" she asked softly, a slight hitch in her voice. "He married that girl."

Gibbs sighed. "Yeah, Abby, he did."

Again there was silence. "I checked his bank accounts, Gibbs. I just had this feeling something was wrong and I was right. All his money was gone; his accounts cleaned out! You know what that means don't you?"

Gibbs closed his eyes for a moment. Oh yes, he knew exactly what that meant.

Suddenly Abby leapt to her feet and turned on him, her eyes blazing. "_How could you let that happen, Gibbs_!?" she shouted tears now starting to trickle down her pale face. "You _know_ what kind of woman she is! You _knew_ he was being drugged! He wasn't thinking straight! Tony told me he and Ziva saw Tim at the church. Why didn't they grab him and get him out of there!?" With each word she pounded on his chest as Gibbs stood silently, his own face reflecting her anguish. What could he say? Because he had been so caught up in his own problems, he had misread this entire situation so terribly, it may very well cost the life of an innocent young man.

Finally, Abby collapsed sobbing in Gibbs arms. He held her gently waiting for her tears to subside. "Abby," he said quietly pushing her from him so he could look directly into her eyes. "We _will_ find him, I promise you that. We won't let them get away with this."

Now Abby's look hardened. "That's what you said before, Gibbs. You promised me you wouldn't let that black widow get him and she did. Now that she's got his money, he's probably already _dead_!" She paused shaking her head as she turned away, tears still flowing. "I'm not sure I can believe you this time."

Gibbs stared at her and realized that was the harshest cut of all.

As dusk fell, Emmy embraced Tim tightly then the two climbed into Tim's jeep with Emmy driving. She'd convinced him that he needed to pray and as she knew the way, it made sense for her to drive. He'd willingly acquiesced as he was again feeling what he could only think of as withdrawal from the elixir. Deep inside him, that worried him a lot but he allowed himself to be carried off into the dark woods as he silently prayed for strength to succeed in whatever this trial involved.

It seemed to take hours to arrive at a small shack high in the mountains. It consisted of a single room with a dirt floor. Tim frowned to see stakes driven into the floor. The glow of numerous candles provided the only light. Reverend McAbee knelt before a small altar at one end of the room. On the altar perched an enormous wooden snake box, intricately carved with images of serpents and penitent worshipers. In the Reverend's hands he held a silver goblet. He was apparently praying over the goblet and its contents. Tim and Emmy stood silently in the dim light and watched quietly until finally the Reverend utter a heartfelt "amen" and rose smoothly to his feet. He turned to face his daughter and son-in-law.

"Timothy McGee," he intoned holding the cup before him, "Your Faith in the Lord has been called into question. There are those who feel you are not a True Believer. Some feel you are a Judas in our midst and are here on behalf of Satan to tempt our Savior and as the Good Book says _Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents."_

_Amen!_

Tim suddenly became aware that several men now stood behind him. He never heard them enter but quickly recognized them as the church elders. With a pang of fear, he realized Emmy had left his side and now stood behind the men watching him with sadness in her large eyes.

"I don't understand what you want of me," said Tim firmly although he could feel his heart racing.

"To prove you are a True Believer!"

McAbee slowly moved forward and offered the goblet to Tim. McGee could see the candle light faintly reflected in the dark liquid within like stars in the night sky. Almost reluctantly, Tim took the cup with a shaking hand and drank. He instantly recognized the bittersweet taste of the elixir. He took a deep breath and staggered. The elixir seemed much stronger than in the past. The room was spinning and he suddenly felt a rush of energy followed by the familiar euphoria. "I _believe!_" he cried jubilantly, twirling in a circle all inhibitions having disappeared. McAbee took the goblet from him and handed to one of the men who took a drink before passing it on to the others.

"Brother Timothy!" roared Reverend McAbee. "Do you feel the power of the Lord!?"

"YES!"

"Do you clothe yourself in the cloak of the Holy Spirit!? Do you accept the Holy Ghost into your heart!?"

"YES!"

"Brother Timothy, do you submit yourself to the Trial of Truth! Will you prove to us that your intentions are True and you mean no harm to the church and its believers!?"

"I DO!"

Reverend McAbee nodded to three of the men who took hold of McGee and guided him forward then like Lt. Amos before him, lowered Tim to the ground where they adeptly tied his hands and legs spread-eagled to the stakes embedded in the ground. The men quickly stood back and Emmy watched as Reverend McAbee turned to the box and with the help of another man, lowered it carefully to the ground. Inside, they could hear the angry rattle of a very unhappy snake. The man quickly retreated behind a low barrier that divided the ceremonial area from the front of the room. Everyone was silent as McAbee opened the door on the side of the box and rapped on the top loudly several times.

"Timothy McGee," intoned Reverend, "Now you must face the devil himself. You must meet Beelzebub. If you are true in the Lord, He will protect you and keep you safe from the poison of Satan!"

There was a hush in the room as the largest diamond back rattler any of them had ever seen slowly slithered out of the box hissing furiously as McAbee prodded it with the rod. Its dry, crisp rattle made more than one observer take a step back. The snake must have been over seven feet long and big around as a man's leg. It was a terrifying, ill-tempered beast and enraged at being disturbed so rudely.

It took a few moments before Tim became aware of what was going on around him, so absorbed was he in the affects of the elixir but when he spied the huge serpent making its way towards him he froze in terror. No amount of drug could subdue the instinct to survive and when Tim saw that snake approaching he knew he was looking directly into the eyes of death. He desperately struggled against the restraints binding him to the ground. This frantic movement just seemed to aggravate the snake even further, causing it to hiss menacingly as it began to coil up preparing to strike.

Tim looked around wildly for help. The men and McAbee watched impassively but Emmy had an air of sorrowful resignation as if she knew already the outcome of this so-called trial. He turned back towards the snake just in time to see it lunge forward burying its inch long fangs deep into the flesh of his thigh. With a scream of agony McGee's body arched painfully as it convulsed against the pain. It was like two white hot needles had been plunged into his leg. Timothy's world became awash in red tinged pain before slowly fading to white and then mercifully, to black.

Reverend McAbee and the men stood silently as they watched the snake furiously pump its venom deep into McGee's leg. Emmy now sobbed quietly. The snake, its fury finally spent, disengaged, retreated from Tim's unconscious form and allowed itself to be herded back into its box. Once it was safely secured, McAbee approached Tim and with a knife carefully made a slit in the leg of Tim's trousers just above his knee to reveal two angry punctures, the skin around them already swelling and becoming discolored. He looked up at the other men and sadly shook his head. "He was not True. He was not a Believer. He is now dead to us."

_He is dead. Amen._

He nodded to two of the men who cut Tim loose from his bonds then carried him out of the cabin to a waiting four wheeler. Like a number of Unbelievers before him, Tim would be taken out into the woods and dumped. If perchance he survived then he would be welcomed back to the fold with open arms having passed the Test. If not, then it was God's will. McAbee went to Emmy and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. They exchanged knowing glances. To them, it meant money in the bank. It was now time to move on. A moment later, the silence of the night was split by the sound of gunfire.


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

Tony and Ziva sat silently in the only diner in Providence scanning the small menu. "What is this 'chicken fried steak'?" asked Ziva with a frown. "Is it chicken or is it steak? It makes no sense to me."

Tony shook his head with an amused smirk. "_That_, my dear Officer David, is a southern delicacy not to be missed! They take the finest of the least desirable cuts of steak, cover it with a coupla inches of batter and fry it up to a delicate crisp so you have no idea what it is you're eating! You'd love it!"

Ziva lifted an eyebrow and regarded Tony skeptically then returned her attention to the menu. "I think I will go with the salad. It is the only thing on the menu that does not seem to require immersion in hot oil."

Tony ordered a hamburger and the two continued to sit silently in thought as they waited for their meals. "I do not understand these people who express their religious faith by handling large, poisonous serpents," Ziva finally said looking at Tony.

Tony just shrugged as he took a sip of coffee. "Makes no sense to me either," he replied. "But somehow they convinced Probie to join 'em and we gotta get him outta there."

Ziva nodded. She watched absently as the waitress brought their meals then picked listlessly at the limp lettuce and over-ripe tomato. She really had no appetite. She sighed and put down her fork as Tony methodically worked his way through his burger and fries.

"Well, Tony, what are we to do now? No one in this town will speak to us and we have no idea if McAbee is still even here or alive for that matter." She was seething with impatience.

Before Tony could respond a shadow fell across their table. "Excuse me, do you young people mind if I join you?"

Tony and Ziva looked up to see an elderly woman standing beside their table. The two agents exchanged glances then Tony stood up and pulled out a chair. "Please, ma'am, we'd be honored."

The woman smiled at Tony and settled herself in the chair. She was a small, woman and reminded Tony of a sparrow with her bright blue eyes and quick, inquisitive movements. Her hair was snowy white and held in a tight bun at the back of head. She smiled at Ziva. "Such a pretty girl. You're not from here, are you dear? America, I mean." She tilted her head and waited.

"No, I am not from here," replied Ziva glancing again at Tony who continued to study the woman. "I am from Israel."

The woman's eyes lit up. "Oh my! How wonderful! I always enjoy meeting people from away. It gets so tedious listening to the same stories over and over again. When you spend 87 years in one place, believe me, there's nothing new!"

"Um, ma'am," began Tony a little uncertainly. "Is there something we can do for you? Can we buy you some dinner?"

The woman laughed merrily. "Oh my, no! I wouldn't eat the food in this place if you paid me!" She leaned forward conspiratorially. "I've seen the kitchen!" She laughed again then grew serious. "Now, I know you're wondering who I am. My name is Irene Perkins, you can call me Miss Irene. May I assume you two are some kind of police officials?"

Tony smiled back. "Yes ma'am. We are NCIS agents. That's Naval Crime Investigative Services. I'm Special Agent DiNozzo and this is Officer David."

Irene nodded. "Good. Are you friends of Brother Timothy?"

Tony sat up in excitement. Ziva leaned forward. "Yes, Miss, uh, Irene," she said. "We are friends of Timothy McGee. Do you know where we may find him? We are concerned for his safety."

"Hmmph," grunted Miss Irene peering through her glasses at them. "And so you should be! Now that that Emmy McAbee has her claws in him, he is in serious danger. He'll disappear like the others and I just won't stand for this any longer!"

"The others?" asked Tony with a frown. "Do you mean Lt. Noah Amos?"

Miss Irene shook her head was sadly. "He was a nice boy. Not exactly the brightest person you'll ever meet but he most certainly didn't deserve to die. The others just disappeared but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the same thing happened to them."

Tony could feel his excitement rising. "Somebody killed them? How many others are we talking about?"

Miss Irene sighed and looked around as if to make sure no one was listening. "There have been two or three other young men, men of good families, who had their eye on Miss Emmaline McAbee. They would attend every church service for weeks and you could see they was besotted with that girl, do anything she wanted. Then, one day, they simply weren't there no more. Poof! Gone! Just like that and the Reverend would tell us they were found "wantin'" and not True Believers. We was told they were dead to us and to never mention them again." She shook her head in disgust. "Ever since that so-called Reverend McAbee arrived, things have gone very wrong at the church. Oh, we always had problems, what church doesn't? But, if you ask me, I think Reverend McAbee is a shyster and I want to stop him. I don't have proof that he killed them young men, but I have my suspicions. I think him and Emmy take those boys for all they're worth and then get rid o' 'em." She scowled. "Do you know those serpents he brought in for the services aren't even poisonous? He took out their poison sacs! Do you realize how many serpents he woulda had to kill to get that many alive? Serpents don't take well to that."

"You _know_ the snakes are not poisonous?" asked Ziva in surprise.

Irene laughed. "Miss David, there ain't much that goes on 'round here that I _don't_ know! Plus, I come from a long line of serpent handlers. My daddy and two of my uncles were handlers as were both my brothers and a bunch o' my cousins. My grandfather died after he'd been bitten for the 25th time." She pulled up her sweater sleeve displaying several scars. "I also handled in my day. Almost died a coupla times but the good Lord watched over me. But believe me, I _know_ when a snake has been tampered with."

"Why did you not say anything?" asked Ziva. "Why did you not tell the others in the church?"

"Because McAbee's got them people all bewitched." She rolled her eyes at Tony's and Ziva's dubious expressions. "I don't mean literally but that so-called elixir he feeds 'em clouds people's minds, makes 'em believe things they normally wouldn't. Plus, they all think I'm some addle-pated old woman. They wouldn't listen to me. But, I'm here now because I want to help you help your friend. Did you know he married that Emmy girl yesterday?"

"Yeah, we heard," said Tony grimly.

"Well, tonight, they will Test him," said Miss Irene in a low voice. "You need to stop it and get that boy outta here or he'll die like Brother Noah."

"_Test_ him?" asked Ziva worriedly. "What does that mean?"

"I happen to know Reverend McAbee has one snake that he keeps hidden away. A big ol' diamondback rattler he calls Beelzebub and I can assure you, it _ain't_ been tampered with. He ties down whoever's bein' "Tested" and makes darn sure that giant snake bites him. Then he claims the person was found wantin' and is now dead to the church." She grimaced and shook her head again. "Well, I can tell you, after bein' bit by Beelzebub, they're dead to more than just the church."

"So they plan to do this to McGee?" demanded Ziva, outraged. "When? Where?"

"I don't know the exact time," replied Irene looking back and forth between Tony and Ziva. "But it'll probably be near midnight tonight and it'll be at a little cabin in a holler 'bout two, three miles from the church. The only people s'posed to know about it are the Reverend and the five church elders but my grandson found it 'bout six months ago and told me about it. He don't like the Reverend any more'n I do."

"Can he take us there?" asked Tony eagerly. Finally, they were making some progress!

Miss Irene hesitated a moment. "Yess," she said slowly, "But only part of the way. Wade is a good boy but like most ever'other person in this town, he's scairt o' them church men. Providence ain't much more than a wide spot in the road, as I'm sure you've noticed and everbody knows everbody else's business. They could make life very hard for Wade if they thought he was helpin' y'all find them."

Now Tony looked concerned. "But what about you, ma'am?" he asked glancing at Ziva. "Aren't you worried?"

Irene laughed again. "Young man, like I said, I'm 87 years old. Half the town thinks I'm nuttier than a squirrel and should be locked up someplace. But I can assure you, I have all my wits about me and if you don't want to find Brother Timothy floatin' dead in some pond, you better get to him right quick like and stop that ceremony."

"Do you know where Agent McGee is now?" asked Ziva eagerly. If they could find him before the ceremony that would certainly simplify things.

Miss Irene shook her head regretfully. "I figure they know you're lookin' for 'em and will have him hid good."

"When and where can we meet your grandson," asked Tony leaning forward.

Placing her purse on the table, Irene dug a few moments before pulling out a folded piece of paper. It was a map. Laying it in front of the agents, Irene carefully smoothed the map out flat. "Now, lookee here, this is where the church is," she pointed to an 'x' marked near the center of the map. Here's the old forest service road that leads up through the hills towards Cherokee Mountain. He'll meet you 'bout a mile up that road at 10 pm. Like I said, they usually start about midnight so that should give y'all enough time." She peered over her glasses at them. "I hope you got one o' them four wheel drive vehicles. You'll need it where you're goin'." She pushed the map towards Tony then slowly pushed herself to her feet. "And if you got guns," she said grimly. "I'd bring them too. You'll probably need 'em." Then without another word, Miss Irene turned and tottered from the diner leaving and Tony and Ziva staring at her in astonishment.


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

"I do not understand why this Wade person could not have met us sooner," grumbled Ziva as the SUV they'd rented slowly bounced and jittered its way up the old forest service road. Truth be told, it could hardly be called an actual road but it was as good as it got in these mountains.

Tony shrugged but was silent as he kept a wary eye out for any sign of an ambush along the road. Although he did believe Miss Irene, he didn't know how reliable or trustworthy her grandson was. For all they knew, he was in on this whole thing and was leading them into a trap. Tony hadn't managed to survive this long in law enforcement by being stupid.

Suddenly about twenty yards up the road, a figure stepped out and stopped in the middle of the road as Tony's headlights hit him. The man raised his hand in greeting and remained in place until Tony brought the SUV to a halt. Tony glanced at Ziva and was relieved to see she had her gun out and ready. The man slowly approached the vehicle, looking around nervously. Tony rolled down the window as the man reached them.

"You Wade?" asked Tony studying the man. He was in his mid forties with graying brown hair and a thin, hard face. His bright blue eyes, however looked exactly like Miss Irene's and they were now peering suspiciously at the occupants of the SUV.

"Yeah," he finally admitted again glancing around quickly. "You Agent uh…" he frowned uncertainly. "Donoto?"

"DiNozzo," corrected Tony impatiently. "And yeah, that's me. Your grandmother said you could take us to where they're planning on doing some kind of truth telling ceremony?"

Wade nodded curtly. "I kin git y'all close enough anyways. I ain't goin' all the way up there. I gotta family to think about."

"That's fine," said Tony glancing at Ziva who still maintained a grip on her pistol. She wasn't taking any chances. Tony climbed out of the car. "Nothing personal, Wade," said with a quick grin. "But I'm gonna have to search you." Wade's eyes went wide in surprise but then he nodded.

"Guess y'all really are cops," was all he said as Tony quickly patted him down.

"He's clean," Tony said to Ziva then he turned to Wade. "Sorry, but we can't take any chances. Climb on in and let's get going."

Wade took one last look around and climbed into the back seat. Seeing Ziva watching him from the front seat, he nodded and said "Ma'am."

"OK, Wade," said Tony peering forward into the gloom. "Where to?"

"We'll go up this road 'bout four, five miles and then I'll show you where to turn off," replied their passenger quietly. "The roads get a might tricky after that."

Tony raised an eyebrow as he noticed Ziva smirking beside him. "Uh, Wade," said Tony glancing in his rearview mirror at the man behind him. Wade was looking increasingly anxious. "You OK?"

Wade hesitated. "No, sir, I ain't. If the Reverend finds out I helped you, things could get right ugly for my family. I know my granny ain't worried but I got a wife and three kids to worry about. I know he's a bad man and needs to be stopped, so I'm doin' my part but that don't mean I'm happy about it."

"We will make sure he does not know of your part in this," Ziva assured him.

"Besides," grinned Tony, "If all goes according to plan, he'll be in jail by morning and you won't have to worry about him anymore."

Wade grunted but looked unconvinced.

The ceremonial cabin might have only been a couple of miles from the church as the crow flies but by this road, it was considerably farther and Tony was getting increasingly worried as more and more time passed. At one time, they were forced to get out of the car and move a large tree that had fallen across the road during the winter. That took up far too much time and Tony couldn't help but look at his watch every few minutes.

Finally, they Wade called for a stop. Tony halted the car and looked back at Wade's pale face. "This is as far as I go," said Wade apologetically." He pointed to what could have only been called a game trail leading up the side of the mountain. It was barely wide enough for the SUV. "The cabin is up that road bout a mile and a half," he said. "I took you the back way so's you won't run into them. There will be the Reverend, Emmy, and probably five or six others. Mebbe more." He looked troubled. "Reverend McAbee knows you're the law and probably worries you might try and rescue Brother Timothy. He mighta brought some reinforcement to keep watch during the ceremony so y'all be careful."

Tony reached out his hand. "Thanks Wade. You've done a good thing."

Wade hesitated before shaking Tony's hand. "I'm not so sure you'll say that if'n y'all end up dead." He then turned, opened the car door and melted away into the dark shadows of the surrounding forest. Tony watched him go, then looked at his watch. Damn! It was well after eleven!

Ziva had gotten out of the vehicle and was now examining the mountain path. "Tony, I do not believe our car will make it up this steep path."

Tony grunted in agreement as he stood in the beams of the headlight. "Yeah, besides the sound of the car could tip 'em off. I think we're gonna have to go up on foot." He pulled out his cell phone and frowned. No signal. He'd called Gibbs shortly before they'd left to let him know what was going on and Gibbs was on his way back from D.C. but now they had no way to contact him. A shiver went down his back as he recalled Wade's parting words. These deep mountains were not a place for the faint of heart! He returned to the SUV and turned it around so it was now facing back the way they'd come and left the keys in the ignition. He didn't want to have to search for the keys if they had to beat a hasty retreat. Hopefully there weren't any hillbilly car thieves running around tonight.

"OK, Ziva," he muttered checking his weapon one last time. "Let's get up there and rescue Probie before they turn him into a pin cushion."

The two agents began the steep climb up the mountain track. Tony was thankful they hadn't attempted to drive up this or they could have been in serious trouble. The path was rocky and uneven making the climb in the dark even with flashlights dangerous and difficult. Finally, panting and sore, they reached the top. They turned off their flashlights and allowed their eyes to adjust to the darkness as they listened for any sounds in the night.

Suddenly, Ziva grabbed Tony's arm. "Listen!" she hissed. "Do you hear that?"

Somewhere up ahead, Tony could make out the sound of a voice. It sounded like someone delivering a sermon. He nodded silently. Looks like they'd found the right place. Slowly the two advanced as they surveyed the area. The track led through the trees to a clearing and in the clearing they could see the small cabin Wade had described to them. By the sounds of things, the ceremony was well underway.

Tony turned to Ziva. "I'll take the front, you cover the back. Watch for any guards." She nodded and started off to the left as Tony began to circle to the right.

"HEY! YOU THERE! Stop right where you are!" Tony froze as the beam of a powerful flashlight hit him full on like a spotlight on a stage. Tony paused for only a second then threw himself out of the beam of light just as the crack of a rifle sounded. He felt a searing pain rip through him as the bullet caught him in the side of his chest. It was at that moment he heard a scream of agony erupt from the confines of the cabin. They were too late, thought Tony dimly as he could feel the hot flow of his blood soaking his shirt. Maybe he should have listened to Wade after all.

Ziva turned at the sound of gunfire behind her and was just in time to see Tony tumbling back into the woods followed by the unearthly scream of pain from the cabin. More gunfire erupted and Ziva heard the slap of bullets striking trees behind her. Could they see her or were they just firing blindly!? She instinctively ducked down but not before a stray bullet caught her along the side of her head. With a cry of pain, the world exploded and then went black.


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

Two armed men stood staring at the stranger lying in the brush at the edge of the cabin clearing. He was watching them through pain glazed eyes as a blossom of red continued to spread across the front of his shirt. A third man ran up, a rifle clutched in his hand. "Did you get 'im?" he panted. "Whoa!" he whistled looking at their victim. "Nice shootin' Mac!" The taller of the two men grunted in appreciation.

"Heard you shootin', Bill," said the second man as he shot a stream of tobacco juice off to the side. "Was there another one?"

The third man shrugged sheepishly. "I thought mebbe but when I went to go look, I didn't see nuthin'. Guess I just got carried away."

The three men turned at noise coming from the cabin. Two men were carrying out a body and dumping it in the back of the four wheeler. Reverend McAbee was hurrying over towards them.

"What happened?" he demanded looking at the three men.

Mac nodded towards the man lying on the ground. "Saw this fella creepin' around the woods. Told 'im to stop and fired when he didn't."

"He was armed," said Bill picking up DiNozzo's gun and showing it to the others.

Silently, McAbee cursed to himself. He had hoped they could finish this up and be gone before the NCIS agents discovered what was going on. Now they'd just have to get rid of this one along with McGee. "All right, just dump him in the four wheeler with the other one. The Lord has been testin' us all this night."

Two of the men lifted Tony by the arms and dragged him to the four wheeler where McGee lay softly moaning. "Probie!" whispered Tony softly before allowing himself to be embraced by the comforting arms of unconsciousness.

"You know where to take 'em," said McAbee to two of the men who had followed out of the church. "If it is the Lord's will, they will return to us but if they are Satan's pawns, they will perish in the wilderness."

The men uttered a low 'amen" and got in the vehicle. The others silently watched as the four wheeler bounced its way out of the clearing and into the pitch blackness of the surrounding forest.

"Brothers," intoned McAbee addressing the remaining men. "We have done the Lord's work here this night. Brother Timothy's soul has been weighed in the balances and found wanting. We shall speak no more of this." There was a low murmuring of agreement as the men turned and slowly made their way away from the church to the vehicles waiting nearby. They would take the main drive back down to the church. As McAbee watched them, Emmy joined him.

"We need to get out of here, Dad," she said brushing hair from her face. "I know there were _two_ agents, that one and a woman, Officer David. It stands to reason she'll come lookin' if she isn't already."

McAbee nodded. "I know, Emmy. Let's get over to the cabin and clear out what we need. We can't afford to delay any longer. Figure we'd better start heading north to Canada. From there, we can get to the Grand Caymans." He glanced at his daughter. "You clean out McGee's accounts?"

She nodded. "I told him we needed to put it all in a joint account." She laughed. "He did it all from his computer in no time flat. After he showed me how to access it, I went in and moved it out again when he was in the bathroom."

"Good. OK, let's get going. I'm ready to get out of this dump and if I never see another damn snake, it'll be too soon for me." Emmy laughed, took his arm and the two of them headed to the remaining truck. By morning, they'd be long gone.

The first indication Ziva had that she wasn't dead was the throbbing pain in her head. Slowly, she lifted her hand and touched the side of her skull. Her hand came away wet with blood. Taking a handkerchief from her pocket, Ziva pressed it against her head as she painfully pushed herself to a sitting position and looked around. Glancing at her watch, she realized dawn wasn't far off but there was enough light for Ziva to evaluate her situation. She was at the bottom of a deep brush choked gully which had luckily screened her from the view of the men above. She knew her head wound wasn't serious, just a graze really, but it hurt like hell. She closed her eyes for just a moment then remembered her gun. She searched her immediate vicinity but it was nowhere to be found. She peered up through the trees and underbrush and knew it would be a tough climb back to the top but she had to get out of here. She had to find Tony and McGee.

Slowly, she pulled herself to her feet grabbing onto a nearby sapling as a wave of dizziness and nausea threatened to overwhelm her. Taking several deep breaths, she was able to steady herself and when she felt she was ready, she began the ascent to the top of the ravine. About halfway, she spotted her revolver wedged in a crack in the rock. It took her a few minutes to dislodge it but she felt immeasurably better to be armed once more.

It took fifteen or twenty long, painful minutes for Ziva to climb through the dense shrub and rock piles to the top. Her entire body felt like one giant bruise and she realized how fortunate she was not to have broken anything when she'd fallen. She stood silently in the shadows of the trees surveying the clearing and cabin before her. It was silent and had an air of abandonment. When she was certain she was alone, she cautiously made her way across the clearing to the front door of the cabin. Again, she waited several long minutes listening carefully. No sound could be heard from the interior of the cabin. She counted to three then flung the door open and with gun drawn rushed into the cabin. It was empty. She peered warily around the single room before finally lowering her weapon.

The cabin had a dirt floor and she was disturbed to see the stakes embedded into the packed soil. A dark stain marred the soil's surface. Pieces of ropes lay discarded nearby. Obviously those had been used to tie down McAbee's victims. There was a large box sitting on a platform at one end of the room. As Ziva approached it, she pulled up sharply at the loud rattling sound emanating from the box. More cautiously than ever, gun held ready, she stepped closer and looked through the screen opening on one of the sides. Inside was an enormous black and gray snake regarding her with its flat reptilian stare. Ziva shivered as the snake hissed menacingly revealing it long, deadly fangs. This must be the infamous Beelzebub that Miss Irene had told them about. She was reminded of the scream she'd heard last night and felt sick. That must have been when the snake bit McGee.

Obviously, there was nothing in the cabin that would help her find McGee. She turned quickly a hurried back outside carefully peering across the clearing. _Where was Tony!? _She now remembered there had been several gunshots before she'd been hit. Had they gotten him too? She retraced her steps through the dewy grass to where she'd fallen. Tony had gone to the right so she headed that way calling softly for him. At last she came to place where the vegetation had been trampled and broken. She broke out her flashlight and shone it through the early morning shadows and felt her heart quicken as she noted the dark, moist stain on the rocks and plants. She reached down and gently touched it. There was no doubt; it was blood. Tony! She let her head fall to her chest in dismay. Both Tony and McGee were gone. Were either of them still alive? She was in no shape to search on her own; she had to get help. She stood up and again fought through another bout of lightheadedness. She shivered as the wind picked up rustling the trees around her.

As She turned to leave she winced as a roll of thunder rolled across the mountains. It felt like someone was hammering in her skull. She looked up and scowled at the sight of the dark, roiling clouds. It wasn't long before fat drops of ice cold water began to pelt her as she hurried back to the track she and Tony had come up. _Damn_, she thought angrily, _this will certainly complicate the search! _Ignoring her own pain, Ziva ran as quickly as she could. She had to get back to the SUV as quickly as possible and try to contact Gibbs. She was the only one who could help her partners and there was no time to waste.


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

McGee slowly opened his eyes. He was shivering violently and puzzled by the yellowish tinge coloring the world around him. Then he became aware of the burning, throbbing pain in his leg and the whole nightmare of meeting Beelzebub came rushing back. That damn snake had _bitten_ him! Groaning, he pushed himself up and immediately threw up as a wave of nausea overwhelmed him. He wrapped his arms around himself in an effort to ward off some of the chill. It was still dark but a gradually lightening of the shadows told him dawn was not far off. He tried to swallow but found his throat and mouth were bone dry. In short, he felt horrible. He rubbed his aching head trying to figure out where he was. He seemed to be lying in a depression in the forest someplace up in the mountains.

McGee sat there not sure what to do first when a soft moan behind him caused him to turn abruptly. He frowned at the sight of a huddled figure about five feet away hidden by the shadows. Tim blinked trying to focus and rubbed his eyes. He cautiously pulled himself towards the figure. When he reached the inert form, he carefully turned it over and felt a thrill of shock at the sight of Tony's white face.

"Tony!?" he gasped desperately searching for a pulse then sighing in relief when he found Tony's heartbeat, maybe not the strongest, most steadiest pulse, but it was there all the same. Tony was still alive at least. He now spied the dark red stain across Tony's shirt. Frantically, he pulled open the shirt to examine the small round hole where the bullet had entered the side of Tony's chest. Mercifully, it appeared the bleeding had slowed but Tim took off his undershirt and tore it into strips forming a makeshift bandage. He tightly wrapped it around Tony's body and then sat back, exhausted.

Anger surged through McGee at the thought of those damn hillbillies shooting Tony. _How dare they!?_ he thought in growing agitation. _If I ever get my hands on those bastards, I'll rip them apart!_ Another wave of nausea washed over him, leaving him weak and shaking. He started laughing. Who was he kidding? He was going die up here in these God-forsaken mountains and taking Tony with him. _Well, I certainly deserve it_, thought McGee as he gazed down at his friend. "_But Tony doesn't. He's only here because of me. I might as well have shot him myself." _He closed his eyes feeling so very tired.

"Hey, Probie!" Tim jerked in surprise and looked back down to see Tony grinning weakly up at him.

" Tony!" returned Tim feeling tears prickling the back of his eyes.

"So, I see we're still alive," commented Tony casually as he looked around. "You OK?"

Tim gave a short, bitter laugh. "Sure, if you don't count the snake bite." He suddenly coughed painfully. Breathing seemed to take a lot more effort all of a sudden. Tony frowned then smoothed out his worried features when Tim looked back at him. "I'm so sorry, Tony," began McGee miserably. "This is all my fault. I deserve this. I'm such a damn fool, I don't deserve to live but you shouldn't be here."

Tony struggled to sit up against the rock behind him. Tim helped him looking more dejected than ever. "Tim," panted Tony, fighting the pain, "This is _not_ your fault, McGoo! They were drugging you! That girl and her father were con artists! They conned everybody in that damn church! They just wanted your money." He winced in pain biting back a groan. Now it was his turn to assess their situation.

He considered Tim's gray, drawn face. He didn't look good at all. It was obvious Probie was in a lot of pain as his body reacted to the poison of the snake's venom. But on top of that, Tony knew McGee would be dealing with the withdrawal from whatever that drug was they'd been feeding him. Tony had no idea how long it took to die from snake bite but studying McGee, it didn't look like it was going to take all that long. He sighed. Then he looked at himself. He'd been shot in the chest but he was able to breathe so had to assume his lungs hadn't been seriously damaged but it was obvious he'd lost a lot of blood and given the fact there didn't seem to be an exit wound, the bullet must still be in there someplace. Not good. He smiled inwardly at the bandage McGee had wrapped around him; once a Boy Scout, always a Boy Scout.

And what about Ziva? He glanced around and didn't see her anywhere so perhaps she'd gotten away. He remembered one of the men saying he'd thought he'd shot at something but figured he'd been wrong. Did that mean Ziva was all right or was she lying wounded or worse back in the woods by the cabin? If she was free, he hoped she would go back and get help rather than trying to find them herself. He was shaken from his reverie by the deep roll of thunder. He groaned inwardly. That's all they needed! He could now hear the sporadic patter of raindrops falling through the sparse springtime canopy with the occasional drop striking him. He looked to Tim who was staring up in the sky as if mesmerized then as the sky opened up drenching them, Tony saw Tim open his mouth desperate for the moisture. He hesitated only a moment before following suit, blood loss creating a desperate thirst. In his mind he laughed bitterly. This was a fine mess indeed!

Ziva fought her way through the deluge finally reaching the SUV just where she and Tony had left it only hours ago. It felt like days. Soaked and shivering she leapt into the driver's seat, started the engine and began heading back down the mountain at what most would consider a breakneck speed, heater blasting on full. But Ziva knew if Tony had been shot and Tim bitten by the monstrous snake, there was no time to lose. From time to time she checked the reception on her cell phone, cursing each time it came up empty. She had to get in touch with Gibbs.

She cursed again as she fought to keep the SUV on the steep, muddy path. More than once she just barely missed careening into a tree or rock but she held on and never let up. Her head pounded but she swallowed the pain and concentrated on the job at hand. She was the only hope Tony and McGee had.

Finally, she reached the main highway and again she checked her phone. Yes! She had reception. Quickly, she dialed Gibbs' number knowing he would be awake despite the early hour.

"Yeah, Ziva, what's going on?" His voice was sharp with concern.

"Gibbs!" cried Ziva in relief pulling the SUV over deciding it was the safest course of action in this downpour. She could barely see ten feet ahead of her. "Thank goodness I have reached you! Tony and McGee are in serious trouble! Tony and I found where the McAbees had taken McGee but he had armed men watching. I believe Tony was shot and McGee has been bitten by a poisonous snake but I do not know where they have been taken! We need to organize a search party."

Gibbs cursed. He _knew_ something had happened and this is exactly what he'd feared. Either agent could be dead or close to it but they had no idea where they'd been taken. He sat in the diner watching the pouring rain flood the small parking lot and blinked involuntarily at the loud crack of thunder. They couldn't get any choppers out in this and searching on foot in this rugged, unforgiving terrain without a large number of skilled searchers would be pointless. His didn't have a lot of options. He needed to contact the county sheriff, round up all the members of the church, find out who was involved with last night's activities and discover where they'd taken DiNozzo and McGee. He also needed to line up a helicopter for when the storm let up enough to allow them to begin searching.

"OK, Ziva, come on in. I'm gonna contact the local sheriff and see about rounding up church members for questioning. One of 'em's gotta crack and tell us where they dumped DiNozzo and McGee. But if they don't, I'm arranging for a search and rescue to get searchers here and a helicopter to start running a grid as soon as the storm lets up enough for one to get in the air. I need you to be able to tell them where that cabin is."

Wearily, Ziva rested her throbbing head against the steering wheel for a moment suddenly feeling every bruise, bump and abrasion. She was fighting her instinct to rush back into the woods to begin searching for McGee and Tony but she knew that was foolish. All she'd do is end up lost herself and compound the problem. Plus she knew she was on the verge of hypothermia and wouldn't be surprised if she was suffering from a concussion as well. No, it was best to leave this to the experts. "All right, Gibbs," she said finally. "I am on my way."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N Thanks again for everyone's support! I hope you enjoy the chapter. **

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

Tim jerked awake, his heart beating rapidly. He _mustn't_ sleep! He was shivering violently now and felt an odd numbness in his hands and feet. He was desperately thirsty and realized that he was sitting partially immersed in water. His eyes went wide as he coughed painfully. With a moan he saw that the hollow where he and DiNozzo were sitting was filling with water from the unrelenting rain. They had to get to higher ground.

He looked at Tony and felt his heart skip a bit. Tony's face was white and his lips tinged with blue. Dreading what he might find, Tim reached over and felt for a pulse in Tony's throat. He sighed with relief when he felt the thin, thready heartbeat. "Tony," he rasped gently shaking his friend. "Tony, you gotta wake up. We need to get out of here."

Tony groaned as his eyes fluttered open. He stared at McGee for a moment before it registered in his mind. "Probie?"

Tim smiled weakly. "Yeah, Tony, it's me. Listen, can you move? This depression is starting to flood. We gotta get out of here to higher ground."

Tony grimaced in pain as he pushed himself more erect. "Yeah, probably." Then he frowned studying McGee's haggard face. "But what about you? Can you make it?"

Tim shrugged. "I can only try." Tony nodded doubtfully. He honestly didn't know which one was in worse shape and figured it would take both of them working together if even one had a chance to survive.

Tony looked around and saw a long stick laying a few feet away. "Can ya hand me that stick, Probie?" he asked pointing. Tim crawled awkwardly through the rising water to the stick and handed it to DiNozzo. "OK," grunted Tony, teeth clenched against the pain, "I'm gonna try and stand up. Then we'll see if you can stand on that leg. Got it?"

Tim nodded wearily. He was having such a hard time focusing and every movement sent white hot needles of pain up and down his leg. But, he didn't want to die out here in the middle of nowhere and he couldn't leave Tony to suffer alone, so he watched, ready to help if he could, as Tony painfully struggled to his feet.

"Made it!" grinned Tony halfheartedly. He had to close his eyes for a minute as the world whirled around him and he knew if he wasn't already soaked from the constant rain he'd be dripping in sweat. He thought he was going to be sick but taking a few deep breaths steadied him. "See what clean livin' does for you? OK, McGoo, your turn."

Tim wiped away the water racing down his face trying in vain to clear his blurry vision. He felt so weak and so, so tired. But Tony was counting on him and he couldn't let his partner down. "C'mon, Tim, you can do it." Tim looked up to see Tony's hand outstretched towards him. With a weak nod, Tim took Tony's hand and pushed against a large boulder with the other, using them both to lever himself to his feet. As soon as he put weight on his injured leg, he cried out in agony, the entire leg exploding as if it had been set on fire. But Tony didn't let go. He supported Tim for several long moments as he fought against the rising waves of his own pain that threatened to drown him. The two men stood panting and shaking as they tried to find their equilibrium. Finally, Tim released his hold on Tony and putting his weight on his good leg, moved back.

Tony laughed shakily. "This reminds me of that old movie, _Scott of the Antarctic_. Everybody was really bad shape, sick, suffering from starvation, frostbite, and exposure but still they plodded on despite all the adversities, refusing to give into the elements."

Tim leaned against the rock willing his head to stop pounding as he fought down a bout of nausea. "Yeah, but they all died in the end," he muttered finally.

"Um, well yeah, there was that," admitted Tony now looking around trying to figure out their next move. He frowned as he noticed what appeared to be a round white rock standing out starkly against the dark, dripping vegetation. Slowly, he took one step, then another using the stick as a makeshift staff, finally reaching the slope just below the odd rock. It only took him a moment to realize it wasn't a rock, but a skull. "Looks like we've found at least one of Miss Emmy's missing boyfriends," he said softly.

At the sound of Emmy's name, Tim looked up his face darkening. "What did you say? What about Emmy?"

Tony turned in surprise to see the fury in Tim's face. "Uh, nothin' Probie," he hedged. He'd forgotten Tim's possible emotional instability from the drug they'd been giving him. "I just found this skull here. Uh, looks like we're not the only ones those hillbillies dumped out here."

McGlee glared at him suspiciously for a few moments more before backing down. He simply didn't have the energy for any confrontations. He hung his head as something Tony had said came back to him. He looked up again at Tony who was studying the skull. As Tony moved some of the brush aside, Tim could just make out the rest of the body. "Tony," Tim said slowly, "What did you tell me before about Emmy and her father?"

Tony stiffened. He should never have mentioned that girl! Finally he sighed and faced his partner. "Tim, she and her father were con artists. In fact, evidence says she was a black widow. Did you know she'd been married four times before she met you and every one of those husbands died? She'd drain their bank accounts and then arrange for some "accident" or in Lt. Amos' case, a snake bite." He paused taking a couple of deep breaths. This was using up energy he didn't have to spare. "You were next on the list, buddy."

Tim's shoulders slumped in despair. How could he have been so stupid…_again_!? He'd walked right into their trap and he knew now that if he ever got back, his money would all be gone. He'd have nothing left. He was such a damn fool.

Tony felt a rush of dismay as he watched the abrupt change in McGee. He had to keep his partner up and moving or they would definitely die out here and he for one, had no plans on going the way of Commander Scott!

"Tim," gasped Tony moving awkwardly towards McGee. "I told you before, it _wasn't_ your fault. They were drugging you, making you believe what they wanted you to believe. Like I said, you weren't the only one. There were at least three other husbands and who knows how many boyfriends. They were pros!" He paused as another wave of dizziness washed over him. Like Tim, all he really wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep. "You need to shake this off, Probie," he finally managed. "I need you. I can't get out of this by myself."

Tim stood silently, head hanging, for several long moments. He knew Tony was right but right now, he was in such a dark place he was having trouble figuring out why he should care. He'd lost everything he cared about and was dying from snake venom. Who was he kidding? He wasn't going to make it out of here alive and for that matter why should he? It was pretty obvious he was too stupid to exist. He thought about all the mistakes he'd been making at work before he quit and how hard Gibbs had been on him no doubt justifiably so. That alone should have clued him in as to how useless he was and now this disaster with Emmy and her father. It wasn't the first time he'd fallen for a girl who only wanted to use him and this was the second time one tried to kill him. And now he may have very well cost Tony and possibly Ziva their lives as well. Obviously he would never learn. Why not just let the snake venom put him out of his misery?

"McGee!" barked Tony. He knew time was running out for both of them and if he didn't snap McGee out of this emotional tailspin, they were both dead. "Are you going to _let_ them get away with what they did to you?"

McGee slowly lifted his head and regarded Tony's pale face with a bleak look of resignation. "They already have, Tony. Gibbs is right. I should have stayed in cybercrimes. I had no business being a field agent. Unless it involves a computer, I'm useless. Look at you, Tony! Because of me, you're here in the middle of the wilderness with a bullet in you! For all we know, Ziva's lying dead back by that cabin and _it's all my fault_!"

Tony cursed as he saw McGee begin to sink down to the ground in obvious surrender. "NO! Tim!" rasped Tony gripping his staff until his knuckles went white. "You are _not_ useless! Do you honestly think Gibbs woulda kept you this long on his team if he really thought that? Sure you were having a rough patch, but so was Gibbs. He was jumping down everybody's throat, not just yours. You gotta shake this off, Probie or we're _both_ dead!"

Tim looked at his partner and saw the pained desperation there. Was he going to give in and simply die without a fight, proving what the others said about him was right – that he was nothing but a loser? Was he willing to let Tony die because of his ineptitude? McGee vainly wiped the water from his face wishing the rain would stop. Even above the rushing sound of the rainfall, he could hear Tony's ragged breathing. All right, he would try and make his last hours or perhaps it was minutes, on this earth count for something and help Tony get to safety. He didn't really care what happened to himself but his partner's survival was his responsibility. With a grimace, he pushed himself to his feet once more.

"All right Tony," he sighed so weary just getting the words out took effort. "Let's go."

With a sigh of relief, Tony handed Tim another sturdy stick to help him keep weight off his injured leg. The two men surveyed their surroundings trying to decide which way to go. Finally, Tony noticed the broken vegetation that indicated where the four wheeler had been. "Let's head that way," he said. McGee simply nodded and slowly, painfully, the two began to make their way out of the rising water of the depression and up the slope.

Together, step by step they dragged themselves up the rocky slope grabbing onto saplings and occasionally each other as they fought against the rain and the underbrush to higher ground and out of the rising water. Sometimes it felt like two steps back for every step they advanced. Once they reached the top, both men were on the verge of collapse. Tony knew he was bleeding again but there wasn't much that could be done. Tim had tried to tighten the bandage but the wet fabric was impossible to work with. Tony had suggested they tie a tourniquet around Tim's leg above the bite but Tim refused saying too much time had passed for it to make any difference. Tony winced as he spied the swollen, discolored flesh through the rip in Tim's pants leg. For the first time he realized the fabric was soaked not only from the rain but from McGee's blood as well. He felt a swell of hopelessness crash over them. How were two men, both on the verge of death or at least going into serious shock, going to hike out of the rugged wilderness of the Appalachian Mountains!?

McGee sat on the edge of boulder fighting for breath. His shaking had gotten worse and he felt as if he were on the verge of going into a convulsion. He wrapped his arms around himself and concentrated on taking one breath then another, then another. It seemed to help. He was staring at the raindrops now, each one perfectly clear, an individual crystal sphere surrounded by thousands of others, each one a distinct individual. They were moving so slowly now that he could see there were little figures inside each one. He could see his sister and his parents putting presents under a Christmas tree. There was Agent Kate Todd waving cheerily at him and Erin, the witness he'd begun to fall for before she was murdered. She appeared to talking to a giant caterpillar. McGee blinked in confusion bringing himself back briefly to the freezing cold rain-soaked forest. What was _that_ all about!?

Tony collapsed next to him, his own breathing labored. DiNozzo laughed mirthlessly. "Probie, we sound like refugees from a TB ward," he gasped. He paused as he noticed McGee's confused look. "You still with me, McGee?" he asked sharply.

"Why would Erin be talking to a giant caterpillar?" asked Tim faintly with a puzzled expression. He was still staring at the rain.

Tony felt a surge of fear. Was McGeek starting to hallucinate? He flinched as he heard McGee's tortured retching beside him. He carefully put his arm around his partner as McGee straightened up, breathing hard. Suddenly Tony had serious doubts McGee would make it out alive. He was deteriorating rapidly and there was absolutely nothing Tony could do to help him. He pulled out his cell phone for the tenth time still hoping against hope there would be a signal. Why couldn't they build some damn receiving towers up here anyway!?

"C'mon Probie, stay with me," begged Tony giving Tim a slight shake trying to rouse him.

McGee blinked again and then turned to look at Tony. "You doin' OK, Tony?" he asked perfectly lucid now. "You don't look so hot."

Tony gave a short relieved laugh. "Thanks a lot, Probie. You don't look so hot yourself!" With a pained-filled expression, Tony shakily got to his feet. He winced. With each breath, his chest felt as if it was full of shards of broken glass. "C'mon McGoo, let's get this dog and pony show on the road. Time's awastin'"

Tim nodded and struggling to his feet, he shuffled after Tony as the two wounded warriors attempted their desperate trek out of the wilderness.


	17. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

Gibbs stood staring impassively at the three men seated before him in the holding room of the county sheriff's department. They were the only church elders they'd been able to track down. Ziva stood by his side. He glanced in some concern at his remaining agent. She had a bandage around her head. She'd needed ten stitches to close the graze across the side of her skull and suffered from a nasty concussion but she'd refused to be left behind. She had suggested they talk to Miss Irene about likely culprits in McGee and Tony's disappearance and the elderly woman had given them the names of the five church elders. She told them they were a part of all the special ceremonies. "Don't be too hard on them Agent Gibbs," she'd admonished. "They've been takin' that same elixir that bewitched Brother Timothy. McAbee's got 'em wrapped around his little finger."

Now watching the men, Gibbs could believe it. They men were fidgety and anxious. A few of them wiped sweat from their faces despite the coolness of the room. Gibbs was studying them to see which one he thought would crack first. The rain was still coming down in sheets and getting up into the mountains was going to be extremely difficult. He needed to know exactly where they had dumped Tony and McGee. They simply didn't have time to scour the entire mountainside for the two injured men.

Finally, he picked out his man. He gave a slight nod to Ziva who approached a small, ferrety looking man with a wall-eye and gapped teeth. He seemed more anxious than the others and when Ziva told him to come, Gibbs thought the man might bolt but after glancing at Gibbs' hard gaze, he stood and docilely followed Ziva into the interrogation room. He sat and stared apprehensively around the room, his feet and hands constantly in motion.

Gibbs took the seat across from him. He looked down at a sheet of paper. "You Andy Summerfield?"

The man started and stared at Gibbs with his wild, nervous eyes. "Y..yeah, that's me. I didn't do nuthin'! What's this all about anyway?"

Gibbs wanted to laugh. The man was going to wet himself trying to prove he was innocent of anything and everything. He pushed a photo of McGee in front of the man. "You know this man?"

Summerfield's eyes widened for just an instant then he quickly shook his head. "Nope, nope," he said hastily seeming more anxious than ever. "Never seen him before him my life. Never been to our church. Nossir!"

Gibbs leaned forward, his gaze boring into the man. "Now, why would you mention him going to your church?" he asked softly. "I never said anything about him going to your church. I just asked if you knew him."

Summerfield froze, his face pale as he realized his mistake. He licked his lips nervously as he tried to backtrack. "Um, well, all I meant is since you got church elders out there, y'all must think he went to our church and I never seen him at our church so I don't know where I woulda seen him, I mean…" he trailed off as he noticed Gibbs granite expression.

"I find that hard to believe," commented Gibbs mildly, "Since we know that this man, his name is Timothy McGee by the way, just happened to have gotten married to your pastor's daughter, Emmy McAbee, a couple of days ago. I also understand he'd been attending your church almost daily for the past coupla weeks." He stared expectantly at Summerfield who now wiped sweat from his face with a handkerchief as he took up the photo again.

"Oh! Uh, wait, yes, I mean, I may have seen this man at our church a time or two," Summerfield mumbled never looking up.

"Hmm," grunted Gibbes leaning back in his chair never taking his eyes off the man. "Tell me about Beelezbub and the Test of Faith."

Summerfield's head snapped up so fast, Gibbs idly wondered if he'd hurt himself. All remaining color had drained from the man's horrified face. "What!?" he whispered in shock. "I…uh…don't know what you're talkin' about." The man looked as if he might faint at any moment.

"Andy," said Gibbs now leaning forward, his cold voice rising with each word. "I know Timothy McGee was bitten by a poisonous snake in some bogus ceremony and left in the woods to die along with another agent, Anthony DiNozzo who I believe may have been shot. Now, if either of those two men should die, you and your snake handling buddies out there _will all be charged with murder_!" The last was said in a roar so fierce, Summerfield buried his face in his hands as if to shut out the sound.

Now Gibbs lowered his voice. "However, if you can tell me where they were left and we can rescue them before it's too late then things will certainly go easier for you."

Summerfield's eyes cast around wildly as if searching for a way to escape but he was trapped and he knew it. He was not a particularly bright or clever man and always suspected McAbee had chosen him for a church elder simply because he owed a lot of land on the mountain. He was susceptible to flattery and had believed all the compliments McAbee had paid him but he also had a strong sense of self-preservation and knew if he didn't deal with this Navy cop, he was screwed. He glanced at Gibbs whose unnerving hawk-like gaze never wavered and sighed in resignation.

"Yeah, he was bit during the ceremony," Summerfield muttered looking down at his hands. "Beelzebub always bites and I don't think nobody ever survives that. Anyways, we took Brother Timothy and that other fella up onto Fox Mountain in the Reverend's four wheeler, 'bout six, seven miles north from the ceremony cabin." He paused as Gibbs waited. "An' yeah, the other guy was shot. In the chest I think. They was both alive when we left 'em though!"

"Can you show us on a map where this place is?" Gibbs pulled a large topographical map from his folder, unfolded it and thrust it in front of the man.

Summerfield shrugged sullenly. "Guess so." He studied the map for several minutes, his brows knitted in uncertainty. Finally he pointed to a spot. "Um, I think it was 'round here somewheres." He looked thoroughly beaten. "It was real dark and all so's I can't be hunnert percent sure but I know it was prob'ly close to there."

Gibbs stood up looking at the man in disgust. "For your sake, I hope you're right, Mr. Summerfield." He turned and strode from the room.

Ziva met him outside the door. "You have the location?"

Gibbs nodded and turned to the local sheriff. "Sheriff, we've got the approximate location of where they dumped my two agents. He spread out the map showing the man the mark Summerfield had made.

Sheriff Daws shook his head. "Damn. They surely did not want your men to be found, Agent Gibbs," he said grimly. "That is some of the roughest terrain in these parts. Right now, the weather's too bad to fly up there. That woulda been the quickest way."

"What about four wheelers?" asked Gibbs still studying the map. "That's how they took them up there."

"No doubt," agreed the sheriff, "But it wasn't pourin' down rain when they took em'. Flooding is real common in those hills when we get rain like this." He pointed to the two roads into the area. "These streams will be flooded here," he pointed, "and here so the trip'll be a lot more difficult. But I got a call out to the Search and Rescue boys. They're on their way but could take a coupla hours dependin' on road conditions. "

Gibbs cursed vehemently. He picked up his phone and dialed.

"Ducky?"

"Yes, Jethro? Any news?" replied the medical examiner.

"Yeah, and none of it good. I gotta question for you. How long can someone survive after bein' bit by a rattlesnake?"

"Oh, well," began Dr. Mallard always happy to impart information, "That depends on many things. For example, the species of the snake, its age, size, but most importantly whether or not it released any venom. It is a common misconception that all venomous snake bites are fatal. Most are not. Often a snake will not release any venom at all or just a minor amount resulting in a painful bite but no threat to one's survival. Interestingly enough, the bite of a younger snake is frequently more deadly than that of an older snake simply because they haven't learned to control the amount of venom they release. I remember once…"

"Ducky," interrupted Gibbs impatiently, "we're looking at the biggest damn diamondback rattler I've ever seen, at least 7 feet long and there's no doubt it released venom. So, how long?"

"Oh dear!" exclaimed Ducky in dismay. "Timothy?"

"Yeah," sighed Gibbs rubbing the back of his neck. "We know he was bitten last night but is missing along with DiNozzo. Tony's been shot but I don't know how bad. I'm trying to figure out how long we have to find 'em."

There was a long moment of silence before Ducky replied. "Jethro, it could very well be too late. It is almost impossible to know. Some people die within a matter of hours, others days. McGee is young and healthy but tends to be sensitive to chemicals and has numerous allergies plus we know he has been drugged on a regular basis. All of that can exacerbate the effect of the venom." He paused. "You have no further information on Anthony?"

"No Duck, just that he was shot somewhere in the chest. The witness isn't the most reliable guy on the planet and wasn't exactly sure where so I don't know how serious it is but it can't be good regardless. It's pouring down rain here and cold."

"That is not good, Jethro," replied Ducky, his voice full of concern. "Both of them may very well be in shock and if they become hypothermic as well…"

"Yeah, I know, Ducky, I _know_!" Gibbs' voice rose in frustration. "But this weather is slowing everything down!" Gibbs abruptly hung up suddenly feeling guiltier than ever. If only he hadn't jumped all over McGee so often then maybe they wouldn't be in this fix. He sighed. He had finally admitted to himself that he'd been taking out his own frustrations on the team and most notably the insecure McGee. Tony and Ziva were good at letting things roll off their backs but the more sensitive McGee took everything very personally. Gibbs furiously slammed his hand hard on the table top. He _would_ find DiNozzo and McGee no matter what.


	18. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

Tony struggled to place one foot in front of the other as he and McGee made their way down the mountainside. He was having trouble breathing and it took most of his energy to simply stay focused on moving forward. More and more often he fought spells of vertigo and he could feel his heart racing. Behind him, Tony could hear McGee stumbling along, his breathing harsh and labored as well. DiNozzo turned to check on his partner and frowned. McGee looked worse than ever. His eyes, dark with shadows, were sunken deep in his skull. He was all but dragging his injured leg depending more and more on his makeshift staff to stay upright. Periodically, he would have to stop and retch, his stomach long ago emptied but his body seemed oblivious to the fact and each episode left McGee shaking and increasingly disoriented. Tony was getting more and more concerned by Tim's bouts of hallucinations.

Tony peered up into the never-ending downpour. Was it going to rain forever? He shivered violently. God, he was cold! Tim stumbled to a halt beside him. "You doin' OK, Tony?" he gasped, closing his eyes in exhaustion.

"Hell, yeah, Probie!" panted Tony wryly. "Nothin' I like better than a tramp through the mountains in the pouring rain with a bullet in my chest and my best snake-bit buddy by my side!"

Tim smiled faintly. He knew Tony was trying to keep up his spirits but it was apparent Tony was fading fast. Tim couldn't imagine how much blood his partner had lost but looking at his ghost-white face, it had to be significant. He decided not to mention it. "Do you think Ziva is OK?"

Tony sighed. "I really dunno, Probie." He had explained to Tim earlier what had happened at the cabin. "But you know Ziva, she's tough and won't let a bunch of redneck snake charmers stop her. She's like Ripley in Aliens – she'll keep fighting back until she beats their big ol'hillbilly butts!" He was forced to stop by a fierce bout of coughing. Tim winced at the rough, ragged sound.

Tim's head sunk to his chest as a wave of guilt engulfed over him once more. "I'm so sorry, Tony," he finally said unable to look at his partner. "You shouldn't be here. You and Ziva should have just left me alone after I took off and none of this would have happened."

"Tim," panted Tony as he continued to fight for breath. "None of this was your fault. I told you before, they were drugging you; you weren't in your right mind! Remember, we leave no man behind! We couldn't just abandon you when we knew you were in trouble. So, unless you're the one that shot me, I suggest you just knock it off!"

McGee was silent for several long moments. "We better keep moving, Tony," he finally mumbled, his voice barely audible above the rain. Tony nodded in resignation and biting back a groan, started the arduous process of once again placing one leaden foot in front of the other as he pushed through the underbrush and fallen trees that littered the mountains. It would have been exhausting for two healthy men but in their current condition, it was brutal.

Perhaps if the rain hadn't continued to pound them so mercilessly or if their own tortured breathing hadn't been so loud in their ears, they would have heard the roar of the stream, now a raging torrent of unbridled fury before stumbling upon it unsuspecting. Tony was in the lead, his head down, his mind numb and barely aware of anything beyond the pain steadily spreading through his body like some insidious parasite, sapping his meager energy reserves. When his foot slid in the mud at the edge of the bank of the ravine, Tony felt himself go down as he instinctively grabbed for the nearest thing which unfortunately happened to be McGee. Together the two careened down the muddy bank and into the rushing river.

"Tony!" screamed Tim desperately clutching at DiNozzo's outstretched hand while his other scrambled to wrap itself around the trunk of a sapling partially immersed in the churning water. Tim couldn't see or hear anything above the torrent of water cascading over his head but he knew he had hold of Tony's wrist and he could not let go! Tim fought to push his head above the freezing, dirty water and pull himself and Tony closer to the rocky bank. He was working on instinct, praying the adrenalin coursing through his body would be enough to save them.

Slowly, inch by inch he pulled Tony closer to him. Tim couldn't tell if Tony was conscious or not but he didn't seem to be helping. Tim felt around with his foot until he found enough purchase on the slippery rocks and brush now submerged by the flash flood to support his weight. He cried out in pain as he put his weight on his injured leg but he ignored the agony as he laboriously dragged his partner out of the water and up the bank. The thick mud, slick with red clay fought him every step of the way but Tim couldn't give up. He didn't think he'd ever worked so hard in his entire life as he did dragging Tony's inert form up the hill to a level spot well above the water. Exhausted, coated with a layer of filth, Tim collapsed beside his partner gasping for breath.

"Tony!" he wheezed, "Tony! C'mon, don't give up me now!" He struggled to sit up to better check Tony's breathing. "No, no, NO!" sobbed Tim now searching for a pulse and finding nothing. "Damn it, Tony, don't you dare die on me after I just saved your butt!" Barely able to move, Tim nevertheless positioned himself and began to administer CPR. Tears mixed with rain as Tim worked but he was unaware of anything but the rhythm of his motions – compressing Tony's chest, breathing air into his lungs, compress, breathe, compress, breathe, over and over again. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Tony began to weakly cough, turning painfully to his side as he vomited up river water.

Tim collapsed beside him once more, breathing heavily. He closed his eyes, his body now wracked by violent spasms. He knew he was done. He couldn't go on. Pulling Tony from the river had taken all he had left. Distantly, he was aware of the sounds of Tony's retching as he brought up the last of the water. All McGee wanted to do now was sleep.

Tony groaned as each bout of vomiting brought with it a new surge of agony. Desperately gulping for air, he turned his head and spied Tim's mud-covered body beside him. "Probie?" he rasped barely able to get the word out. "You OK?" He was suddenly aware of the spasms rocking Tim's body and without thinking he wrapped his arms around his friend trying to keep him from hurting himself. "C'mon, Tim," he panted his despair growing, "Hang on; it'll be OK! Don't give up!"

Slowly, the violence of the Tims's shudders began to subside and Tony released his hold now looking at Tim's haggard face. "Tim? Can you hear me? C'mon bud, let me know you're in there!" He could hear the desperation in his own voice. So weak he could no longer hold his head up, Tony let himself sink back to the sodden ground. "Don't leave me here alone," he whispered as darkness took him once more.

Gibbs abruptly looked up from the cup of coffee he cradled in his hand, a sudden sense of foreboding enveloping him like a cold fog. Tony! Tim! He stood up as Ziva watched him in surprise. "Gibbs?"

Gibbs was staring out the window, his face like stone. "Ziva, we gotta find them now!" He turned his stricken features to her. "I can feel they're still alive but not for much longer. If we don't get up there right now, they're dead."

Ziva swallowed her protests. She had learned long ago to trust Gibbs on such matters. All she said was "How? The sheriff said the rescue team still has not arrived."

Gibbs began to pace, his mind whirling. How indeed? He just knew that deep in his gut, his two agents were as close to death as they had ever been and if he didn't do something and soon, their rescue mission would be nothing more than a trip to recover two dead bodies.


	19. Chapter 19

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

Emmy sat silently in the truck beside her father her mind whirling. For the first time in her life, she felt really guilty about what they had done. Like Noah Amos, Tim McGee had been a nice, down to earth guy who didn't deserve to die writhing in agony from a snake bite in the middle of nowhere. She glanced at her father. His stern visage scowled at the continuous onslaught of rain. The sound of it pounding on the roof destroyed any chance of them talking. They were trapped on one of the mountain roads not far from their home. The rain had caused so much flooding that a number of roads were closed and they were being forced back the way they had come. She could hear her father muttering impatiently under his breath. He didn't like this at all. With those NCIS agents breathing down their necks, he was feeling increasingly anxious.

"We may have to hide out at the cabin till this all passes," he grumbled irritably. "I'm hopin' those Navy cops will expect we've moved on."

Emmy said nothing. In her mind, she kept seeing Tim lying there in the cabin with Beelzebub sinking his fangs into Tim's leg. She could still hear the man's screams. She shivered. Now she pictured him lying abandoned alone in the wilderness, leg swollen and full of fire. She'd been bitten once and knew how excruciating it could be but she had quickly received the anti-venom and recovered with no ill effects. However, that one experience had convinced her she never wanted to be bitten again. _Was he still alive?_ she wondered gazing out at the rain. _Could she still help him?_ The thought startled her.

She'd never given a whole lot of thought to their victims before. Why was Tim different? She thought about this. Unlike the other men she been involved with, Tim seemed to genuinely need her. He was desperately trying to find a place where he would be accepted for who he was and she had made him feel like he belonged. He had treated her like a lady and was always very respectful of her. She'd liked that. The others had treated her more like a prize or a conquest; Tim had considered her to be gift. She suddenly felt tears prickling the backs of her eyes.

_Get a grip, Emmy!_ She berated herself. _Tim was just another guy with too much money and not enough sense! Forget about him._ But she couldn't. He kept haunting her thoughts and she felt a growing need to go find him before it was too late. She knew roughly where the men dumped the victims and her father kept a supply of anti-venom in the cabin for emergencies. Even though he'd neutralized the snakes he was currently using in the services, he'd been bitten several times in the process and wasn't taking any chances. She could take some of the antivenom out there now. Maybe it wasn't too late? But given the conditions, could she even get up there? She looked up as her father pulled the truck up near the secret cabin. It would no doubt be safer than the house.

Jumping from the vehicle, they both ran to the front porch and despite the short distance were drenched by the time they made it to cover. McAbee unlocked the door and led the way to the comfortable living quarters in the back. He fixed himself a drink then retreated to his bedroom to change. Emmy stood for several long moments torn by indecision. Suddenly she looked at her left hand and realized she was still wearing the wedding ring McGee had given her. Why hadn't she taken it off after the truth ceremony? She pulled it off her finger and stared hard at it. Then, clutching it in her fist she turned and hurried back into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of antivenom from the refrigerator as well as one of the disposable syringes they kept in the first aid kit. Then she ran outside into the deluge. Behind the cabin, hidden beneath a tarp was the four wheeler they used to get to the ceremonial cabin. Glancing into the back she could still see the blood stains from McGee and his partner, that Agent DiNozzo. She briefly wondered if the NCIS agent was still alive or had he succumbed to his wound. She shook the water out of her face, started the engine and with a roar took off into the woods.

Inside the cabin, Reverend McAbee's head shot up at the sound of the engine. "Emmy!?" he shouted running out to warn her someone was coming. He halted in confusion at the empty room. Quickly checking the rest of the cabin he realized she wasn't there. With a surge of anger, he hurried outside just in time to see her disappear over the ridge behind the cabin. He swore furiously as he understood her plan. She was going to try and save that idiot, McGee! She was going to put them both in danger by going soft.

He never really thought she would develop feelings for the hapless NCIS agent. McAbee had actually recognized McGee the first time he'd spotted him there in the woods. McAbee had read Deep Six and was surprised that the author pictured on the cover was the same as one of the NCIS agents who had showed up to investigate Lt. Amos' death. The book was a bestseller and McAbee naturally figured McGee had to have money so when McGee had unexpectedly showed up again that night at the homecoming services, McAbee sicced Emmy on him. It has been an added bonus that the guy was so insecure and desperate for some affirmation. McAbee had noted the way the others treated McGee that day at the pond. No wonder he'd been so easy to convert. They couldn't have come up with a more perfect victim. The guy had been besotted by Emmy from the first and things just clicked into place as if it had been ordained by God Himself. But then things started to go wrong and it looked like they were going to get a lot worse.

McAbee debated what to do next. The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed Emmy would actually reach McGee. The rivers and streams in the mountains turned into torrents in this kind of weather rendering them virtually impassible. Well, he'd wait out the storm here and if Emmy returned before he left, he'd deal with her then. Otherwise, she was on her own.

XXXXXXXX

Gibbs watched as the leader of the Search and Rescue team approached him. His bright orange slicker was in blinding contrast to the dark, rain-washed landscape behind him. He stepped onto the porch of the sherriff's office and threw back his hood releasing an cascade of water. "Agent Gibbs?"

"Yeah," replied Gibbs studying the man before him. He was young, perhaps late twenties but had an aura of competence resulting from the experience he'd accumulated over the past ten years rescuing lost and injured people in the Appalachian wilderness. "You Mark Trevor?"

The man nodded. "Thought I'd let you know the weather is supposed to let up some in another hour or two but we're getting ready to begin the ground search now. Hopefully we can start an aerial search later on today if need be. However, I understand both men have been seriously injured?"

Gibbs nodded. "One has been shot and the other snake bit. I don't know the condition of either man but have to assume the worst."

Trevor nodded. "Agreed. The hospital in Winchester has been notified and has diamondback antivenom ready." He hesitated. "You do realize, Agent Gibbs, that for many people the antivenom can be as dangerous as the bite itself? Anaphylactic shock is not an uncommon effect. Even if your man is still alive, if he's been seriously bitten, it may still be too late."

Gibbs just nodded. "We need to find them first and then worry about if he can tolerate the antivenom."

Trevor nodded again. "We've got three ATVs out here and two UTVs fixed up for emergency evacuations. I've studied the map and we'll be heading into some pretty rough terrain up there with a couple of streams we'll need to cross. Those can be extremely tricky in this kind of weather." He spread the map out on the table in front of Gibbs and Ziva.

"The cabin is here and that guy said they took your men north for about six or seven miles so we'll spread out along this line here and head north. Hopefully one our searchers will come across your men. Of course, if they decide to try and walk out, that could complicate things." Trevor glanced at the two NCIS agents as they studied the map.

"How long do you think it will take to reach this area?" asked Ziva. She was exhausted and her head throbbing but she never once considered staying behind.

"Well, it'll take about an hour to get up to that cabin depending on the road, and then could take several hours to get to the area, again depending on conditions." He stood upright. "Am I right in assuming you plan on coming along?"

Gibbs met the man's gaze and nodded. "Don't worry, Mark, we're both well versed in survival and rescue skills. We won't be in your way." Trevor studied Gibbs and Ziva and gave a small nod.

"All right then," said Trevor picking up his map, "We're going to haul the ATVs up to the cabin and hope we don't need them before then. Get your gear and we'll be on our way."

The road to the cabin was barely passable and the SUVs struggled through some stretches of deep mud. The intensity of the rain had started to slack off which made things a little more bearable. Once they'd reached the ceremonial cabin, the men offloaded the five smaller vehicles from their trailers. An ambulance waited on the main road unable to make it any further.

"Agent Gibbs," said Trevor, "You can ride with us. This is John Hampton, one of our certified EMT's." He indicated a stocky man who was climbing into the back of the rescue UTV. John gave them a nod. "We're all trained of course, but he and Michaela Galway who will be riding in the other UTV are the true experts. Officer David can ride with her and Terry." He pointed to a man with long hair neatly tied back in a ponytail busy checking out the second UTV equipped to carry the injured. A tall, blond woman stood nearby looking over a clipboard. Ziva moved off to join them.

"Sounds good," nodded Gibbs watching as the off road vehicles arrayed themselves in a long horizontal line roughly headed north.

Trevor and Gibbs climbed into the vehicle where Trevor activated the walkie-talkie checking in with each of the searchers. When he was satisfied, he gave the signal to move out and each of the vehicles lurched forward to begin their search.

XXXXXX

McGee had no idea how long he'd been unconscious after pulling Tony from the stream. Minutes? Hours? He had no way of knowing. All he knew was that he wasn't dead yet and somehow, that was a bit disappointing. He turned his head and found himself staring at Tony's ashen face. Slowly, painfully, McGee pushed himself up onto his elbow and frowned in consternation. Tony. He had to save Tony. That was the only thought that seemed to penetrate the fog enveloping his mind. "Tony?" he whispered. His mouth felt as if it were full of cotton. "Can you hear me?" He weakly shook Tony's arm. There was no response. Tim could hear Tony's labored breathing so he knew he was still alive but it was obvious he could no longer help himself.

Tim rolled over onto his back and shivered. The rain was still falling but had lost much of its earlier violence. What was he to do?

_Tim!_

McGee blinked. Had someone just called him? He frowned as he studied the tree looming above him. A large branch began to slowly morph into a sinister clawed hand. Tim watched in growing horror as it t started to reach towards Tony. "No!" croaked Tim pulling Tony's arms and sliding him across the mud away from the danger. The claw now began to reach for Tim and Tim froze watching it come closer and closer…

_Tim! _

McGee started and realized with some confusion that it was just a branch above him. There wasn't any claw. What was wrong with him? He shivered again and frowned. Hadn't he heard someone call him again? The voice had been familiar, he was sure of it. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Emmy! She'd called him! She'd come to help them, he was sure of it. He sat up and looked about frantically. Where could she be!?

_Down the river, Tim,_ she whispered, _Down the river_. Tim managed to struggle to his feet and swaying unsteadily, faced down river trying to peer through the gloom. Was Emmy really there? His heart lurched. He now glanced down at Tony, lying so white-faced and still, the dark red stain standing out vividly against the pale background of his shirt.

"I gotta go find help, Tony," croaked Tim his voice hoarse and strained. "I gotta find Emmy, she'll help us! Just don't die, Tony…please don't die! I'll be back as soon as I can!" Turning, he looked down the river again and pulling together his last reserves of his strength began to take one lurching step after another as he followed the bank of the river.

There was no sense of time. He slipped, he fell but somehow Tim managed to pull himself back up time and time again. He struggled to stay focused on always moving knowing he had to find help for Tony. He couldn't let him die. Emmy was just up ahead, he knew it. He could _feel_ her, _hear _her calling to him. Once he found her, it would all be all right. She would help him get Tony to safety. They were all wrong; she really _did_ love him!

Tim had no idea how far he'd managed to travel but it felt like miles. Panting and wheezing, he wrapped his arms around the trunk of a young hickory tree trying to keep on his feet. It suddenly occurred to him, he couldn't really even feel his feet anymore or his hands for that matter. His entire body seemed be going numb. How odd. He could feel his mind starting to drift.

_Tim! I'm here, beloved!_

Tim's head snapped up and wide-eyed, he peered around desperately searching for girl he loved so much. He took a step and then another but then the ground slid away from him and he tumbled down the river bank into the shallow water along the river's edge. He kept his eyes tightly shut as he waited for the ensuing dizziness to subside. Then, slowly they fluttered opened to find Emmy's deathly pale face only inches from his. _Emmy! She was here!_ Tim's heart leaped with joy at seeing her beautiful face so close to his own. He _knew_ she'd be waiting for him. He smiled as he began to reach for her. Then, he froze. There was something wrong; very, very wrong. Her beautiful eyes, normally the color of the clearest sky were now clouded and eerily blank. Her thick lustrous red hair was a wild tangle of twigs and sticks straggling in sodden clumps across her ashen face. Little by little Tim pushed himself away from her staring in shock as the horrible realization finally hit him. He moaned in revulsion as her lifeless hand floated near him as if to reach out and touch him.

_No, no, no, no!!! Not Emmy!_ It couldn't be true! As he stared at her, she lifted her head, water streaming from her gaping mouth as she regarded him with her dead eyes. She reached for him, to take him her arms and embrace him to her bloated body. Tears streaming down his face, Tim screamed and tried to push himself from her grasp but as he felt her touch him, his body shuddered in agony and black spots began to dance in front of his eyes. With another wrenching moan, he collapsed to the ground and into blessed unconsciousness.


	20. Chapter 20

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

The search seemed interminable to Gibbs. Every moment that passed, every delay caused by downed trees or flooded streams ate at him. Was either Tony or McGee still alive? Were they still where the church elders had dumped them or had they wandered off somewhere else? The rain had dissipated to a light but continuous drizzle which although annoying was preferable to the earlier deluge. It was cold and everyone was covered with mud but Gibbs ignored his own discomfort as he scanned the surrounding woods for any sign of his missing men.

It was getting close to dusk when a squawk came through the walkie-talkie just as Gibbs and his party approached a raging river.

_Trevor! This is Peter. Do you read me? Over._

"We read you, Pete," replied Trevor. Pete and his partner had been off to their left. "You find something? Over"

_Yeah, I think so. Just on the far side of the river. Looks like it could be a person on the ground. Trouble is the river here is too fast for us to cross here. What's it like where you are? Over._

Gibbs climbed out of the UTV and stared out at the river in front of them an inwardly groaned. It was whitewater as far as he could see. Distantly, he could hear Trevor talking to others in the search team.

"Gibbs!" Gibbs turned back. "Terry said there's a possible place to cross about a quarter of a mile that way," said Trevor pointing towards the right. "He said he thinks they can make it so we're all heading that way."

Gibbs nodded and quickly resumed his seat as Trevor turned the vehicle and began to follow the bank of the river. "Normally," shouted John over the roar of the river, "This is barely what you'd call a stream! I've never seen it this big!"

_Just our luck_, thought Gibbs sourly as he continued to watch for any possible fords. At last they reached the place where the river reached a wide open area. The river spread out across the little valley but it flowed much more slowly here and the water was shallower. Gibbs could see the other UTV already on the other side and another ATV on its way. Trevor expertly maneuvered their vehicle in the water and across to the other side.

It took almost thirty minutes for Gibbs and his team to make it to the place where Pete had thought he had spotted the missing agents. It was on top of the bluff overlooking the stream. Terry, Michaela and Ziva along with a couple of other searchers were already there forming a cluster around something on the ground. Darkness was falling and they had turned the vehicles so their headlights illuminated the eerie scene.

Gibbs leapt from the UTV as soon as it lurched to a halt and sprinted to the group with John and Trevor close behind. Ziva looked up at him with stricken eyes.

Tony lay alone, pale and still. Michaela had Tony on his back and shirt open as she examined his wound. Terry was preparing an IV beside her. They could see Tony's chest moving as he struggled to breathe. Michaela had already placed an oxygen mask over his face and Ziva thought he looked a little less blue then when they had first arrived.

Gibbs looked frantically around the area for McGee. He'd assumed that once they found one man they'd find the other. Somehow it had never occurred to him they might not be together. Trevor, Ziva and the other two searchers, Pete and Manuel, joined him in the search using powerful flashlights they'd brought . None of them wanted to say aloud what they feared. Was McGee already dead? Had they gotten here too late? Gibbs rubbed his aching head; deep inside him he didn't believe Tim was dead yet. He hurried back over to DiNozzo.

"Tony?" he leaned down near the injured agent. "Tony? Can you hear me?"

DiNozzo's eyes fluttered open and peered up at Gibbs in confusion. "Boss?" They could barely hear him through the mask.

Gibbs smiled in relief. "Yeah, Tony, it's me." He laid a comforting hand on Tony's shoulder. "Tony, where is McGee? Where's Tim?"

Tony blinked as if trying to figure out what the words meant then with effort, slowly turned his head to the side. His breathing began to accelerate as he realized Tim was no longer beside him. "Probie!" he rasped as he tried to push himself up. "He was here! With me…saved my life…" He abruptly began to cough deeply and painfully.

Gibbs squeezed his shoulder as he gently pushed Tony down. "It's OK, Tony," he said softly. "We'll find him. You just relax and do what the docs tell you. We need you, DiNozzo. Don't you give up on me." Tony, unable to talk, stared up at him, his eyes full of grief. He knew how bad Tim was and he was terrified the junior agent had gone off someplace to die alone.

"Find… him… Boss." Was all Tony could say before losing consciousness once more.

Gibbs nodded as he watched the EMTs at work. Finally Michaela looked up. "As you know, Agent DiNozzo is suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest and although I don't think his lung has been penetrated, I believe it may have been seriously bruised and I can hear fluid. It's obvious he has lost a significant amount of blood so we're trying to get his BP back up. The fact he's survived this long is a good sign but he's in shock and suffering from hypothermia as well. We need to get him to the hospital as soon as possible."

Ziva wiped a tear from her face. She didn't like showing emotion but this was Tony and with all she'd been through, she couldn't help but react. She turned to Gibbs. "If McGee was here with Tony then he must have wandered off on his own. Perhaps to find help? He may yet be alive."

Gibbs nodded grimly still staring down at Tony. It killed him to see his senior agent like this. It was like Kate and Jenny all over again. How many times would he have to go through this? But Tony wasn't dead yet and he was tough so there was still hope but what about McGee? Was he still alive or had time run out? They had to keep looking.

Trevor heard a squawk from his walkie talkie and stepped away to talk to a member of the S&R team. He then turned back to Gibbs and Ziva.

"One of the other teams just found an ATV partially submerged in the water downriver. They think it may be McAbee's. They'll keep searching in that direction. Maybe McAbee picked up your man. I told them we'd join 'em."

"Ziva," said Gibbs turning to the grim-faced woman beside him. She was pale with exhaustion. "You go with Tony. I'm gonna keep looking for McGee." Ziva gave a curt nod and followed the EMTs as they loaded Tony onto a stretcher and secured him into one of the rescue vehicles. Gibbs watched for a few moments as the vehicle started up with a roar and began the rocky trip back to help. He prayed Tony would be alright.

Trevor and John were already in their vehicle when Gibbs joined them and they began following the river downstream in the hopes of locating McGee.

They found him almost an hour later partially immersed in the water at the edge of the river, embraced in the arms of the corpse of Emmy McAbee. The men stared in horror at the tableau for several long moments. Gibbs felt sick and suddenly very old. They were too late. McGee was gone. Suddenly a spasm rippled through McGee's body. The three men jumped as they realized McGee wasn't quite dead yet. Quickly, John and Trevor were scrambling down the bank and pulling McGee up behind them, Gibbs waiting to assist. Once they had him on high ground, John went to work.

He cut away the rest of Tim's pants leg and Gibbs' jaw tightened as he studied the swollen, discolored flesh where the wound continued to seep blood and fluid. Trevor quickly placed an oxygen mask over Tim's face and prepared an IV for him.

Another ATV pulled up on the opposite bank. The two men watched across the churning water of the river. They were the ones that had discovered the abandoned ATV further up the river. The remaining ATVs had started to back to the cabin.

Gibbs studied the dead girl and shook his head. It was obvious she must have lost control of the ATV during the storm and drowned. What was she doing out here?

He turned his attention back to the two men working on his agent.

"How is he?" Gibbs voice was soft.

John hesitated, wiping moisture from his face. "Well, like with Agent DiNozzo, the fact that he's still alive is a positive sign but I'll be honest Agent Gibbs, he doesn't look good. He shows all the signs of severe poisoning and hypothermia. Trevor has already called ahead for the rescue helicopter to meet us on the road now that the weather has let up some. The longer it takes before we can administer the antivenom the less effective it will be. I wish we could have given him the antivenom here but the reaction can be fatal and he really needs to be in a hospital when he gets it, but we'll do everything we can to get both your men to the hospital in time."

The stretcher was loaded and secured. Trevor and Gibbs moved Emmy's body out of the river onto the higher ground and wrapped it in a tarp. They didn't want it to get washed away. There wasn't enough room to bring her out now but they marked the spot on a map and the ME and police could come out later and get it. Gibbs looked at the body again. Could she have come out intending to save McGee? Perhaps she actually had loved him after all but he had no time to give her any further thought. It was because of her his three agents had been injured, two possibly fatally. As he turned away, he spotted something sticking out of the mud near where she had lain. Gibbs stepped down and pulled a broken glass vial from the mud and wiped off the grime trying to make out the label. It said "Crotalidae Polyvalent Antivenom". His eyebrows shot up as he turned and stared thoughtfully at the wrapped body once more.

Gibbs lost all track of time as they made their way back through the forest to the cabin and finally to the road where a rescue helicopter now sat waiting. Ziva hurried up, questions in her eyes. She peered down at McGee and shook her head sadly. She couldn't bear the thought of losing either of these two men; men she had become so very close to over the past few years. Gibbs joined her as they watched the rescuers load McGee's stretcher onto the helicopter. Tony had already gone and now Ziva and Gibbs watched silently as the helicopter winged its way off beyond the mountains.

"They will be all right, Gibbs," said Ziva fiercely. "They have to be."

Gibbs glanced over at Ziva and suddenly realized how pale and drawn she appeared. When had she last slept? She looked ready to collapse and he knew her head must be killing her but she'd never admit as much. Again, he was reminded of how much all his agents meant to him.

Back in town, they picked up their vehicle and began the drive to Winchester. Gibbs dialed Ducky first. "We found 'em, Duck," he announced shortly. "Alive."

"Thank God, for that, Jethro!" replied Dr. Mallard in heartfelt relief. "How are they?"

Gibbs was silent for a moment. It pained him to think of his two injured men. "Both look pretty bad but they're on their way to the hospital in Winchester so we'll more when we get there."

"I will pick up Abby," said Ducky quickly, "And we will meet you there."

"See you then, Duck," replied Gibbs before disconnecting and dialing Abby. This conversation would be far more difficult.

"Gibbs!" cried Abby picking up on the first ring. "Did you find them! Are they OK? What's going on! Please tell me they aren't dead!"

"Abby, Abby!" soothed Gibbs trying to speak over her. "Yes, we found them and yes, they're alive. They're on their way to the hospital now. Ducky is coming over to get you so you can meet us there. Do you understand?" He could hear her softly sobbing in the background now.

"Yes, I understand," she finally sniffled. "I'll be waiting." She paused a moment. "Gibbs, please don't let them die!"

"I won't Abby." Gibbs slowly shut off his phone and stared straight ahead. Ziva glanced at him. She could tell by the line of his jaw that he was very upset. How many times could he make that promise without breaking it? Maybe the time had come.


	21. Chapter 21

**CHAPTER 21**

Dr. Mallard and Abby, with Jimmy Palmer in tow, made it to the hospital in Winchester in record time. They headed immediately to the emergency room. The receptionist told them that Agent DiNozzo had been admitted and was currently in surgery and that the helicopter with Agent McGee was on its way. All they could do now was wait.

A short time later, the nurse came out to inform them that Agent McGee had arrived. Abby leapt to her feet. "Is he alive! I need to see him! Please!" Tears streamed down her chalk white face.

"I'm sorry miss," said the nurse apologetically, "But only medical personnel can be allowed in."

"Then I believe I qualify," announced Ducky getting to his feet. He turned to Abby and held her hand. "Don't worry Abigail," he said softly. "I will make sure Timothy gets all the care he needs. I also hope to learn something of Anthony's condition as well."

Abby nodded miserably. Ducky turned to his assistant. "Take care of her, Mr. Palmer. I shall return as soon as possible." With that he followed the nurse out of the waiting area.

Abby watched him leave feeling completely bereft. Tony was shot. Tim was poisoned. She couldn't imagine life without either of them. She remembered when Director Vance had broken up the team and sent Tony off to sea and McGee to Cybercrimes. Even though she'd seen McGee from time to time, it wasn't the same as when they all worked as a team. But, at least she'd known they were both alive. Now she could lose one or both of them and it was killing her inside. Part of her wondered if she could keep working for NCIS. Could she bear to lose another friend? How would Gibbs handle it? The deaths of Caitlyn Todd and Jenny Shepard had hit him hard and she knew he felt guilty about the way he'd been treating Tim lately. Losing Tony would be like losing a son, she knew, but how would he feel about losing Tim? She didn't want to admit it but she suspected deep down that if he had to sacrifice one, it would be McGee. She wiped away the tears that continued to trickle down her face. She could feel Jimmy watching her with concern. She turned and gave him a weak smile.

"I'm sure they'll both be OK," said Jimmy hopefully. He hesitantly patted her arm then blushed.

"Thanks, Jimmy," she sniffled and leaned against him, thankful for his support. Jimmy looked a little startled then cautiously put his arm around her as they resumed their vigil.

Dr. Mallard followed the nurse into the exam room. At first he didn't even recognize the patient on the table as Timothy McGee. He was covered with mud and his face, at least that part was visible above the ventilator, was a mere shadow of its former self; so gaunt and haggard it looked more like that of a corpse. A nurse had removed Tim's pants and two doctors were examining the engorged, mottled leg while another nurse changed the IV bag. A third came hurrying in with the antivenom and quickly began mixing the first dose.

"BP 90 over 40, heart rate 160," intoned one of the nurses.

As soon as the dose of antivenom was ready, the doctor quickly fed it into the IV bag then watched carefully. Ducky was fully aware that reactions to the serum were very common.

"Heart rate increasing! BP dropping!" Tim's body began to go into convulsions. Ducky felt himself go cold. _Come on, Timothy_, he thought desperately. _Stay with us!_

"Stop the drip!" Without missing a beat, one of the nurses slapped a syringe of epinephrine into the doctor's hand which he quickly administered in an effort to counteract the allergic effects of the antivenom. The team waited tensely listening to the rapid pulsing of the heart monitor. Gradually, it began to slow to its previous level, still too high but better. Tim's body gradually relaxed back onto the table.

"Slow the drip to one cc every two minutes," said the doctor as Tim's signs began to stabilize. "We'll see how well he tolerates that." Again the team watched anxiously as they resumed administering the antivenom. This time, the reaction was much milder so it was decided to continue at that rate for the time being. It was imperative they get the antivenom into him. The question was, would it be in time?

Gibbs and Ziva arrived at the hospital almost three hours later. There had been widespread flooding requiring them to seek alternate routes which invariably took them miles out of their way. They hurried into the waiting area where Abby, Jimmy, and Ducky sat in silence. "Gibbs!" cried Abby leaping to her feet and throwing himself in his arms. He could feel her shaking. She held onto him tightly for several long moments seeking solace. Somehow, just having Gibbs there gave her the sense that everything would be all right in the end.

She finally let go and stepped back. Now she looked at Ziva and her eyes went wide as she spied the bandage on Ziva's head and her haggard expression. "Oh Ziva!" she cried throwing her arms around her friend. Ziva looked surprised and a little uncomfortable for a moment before returning the hug. Again Abby stepped back with tears in her eyes. "Are you OK, Ziva? I was so worried."

Ziva gave her a wan smile. "I am all right, Abby. Just very tired. Has there been word?"

Abby turned towards Ducky who regarded them all solemnly.

"How are they, Duck?" asked Gibbs quietly but Abby could detect the fear behind his words.

"I am happy to report that Anthony came through surgery very well. His right lung was badly bruised and a couple of ribs were broken but they were able to take care of that. He had fluid in both lungs so pneumonia is a concern but they have inserted drains. Although his current condition is listed as critical, his prognosis is good now that they have gotten some blood back into him and his vitals have stabilized. However, I suspect it will be quite some time before he'll be back at work."

Ziva closed her eyes and offered a silent prayer of thanks. Gibbs could feel some of the tension leave his body knowing that at least one of his agents should recover. Then he took a deep breath. "And McGee?"

Now Ducky hesitated. "Not so good, I'm afraid. He had an allergic reaction to the initial dose of the antivenom but slowing the dosage helped. However, so far he hasn't shown any improvement and they're up to 16 vials of antivenom. They've given him transfusions to try and raise his blood pressure with limited success; he is now on a ventilator and his kidneys have shut down so they've had to begin dialysis. When I left, they were trying to remove the necrotic tissue from the wound. I'm afraid he will have a very nasty scar."

_If he survives_, thought Gibbs dismally. "Can I see either one?"

"I shall enquire," said Ducky and headed back to the ER.

Gibbs stood silent, lost in thought. In the background he could hear Abby's gently weeping. He felt numb as he lowered himself into one of the plastic waiting room chairs. No one said anything. What could they say? Gibbs lowered his head now feeling the exhaustion he'd been keeping at bay. He rubbed his eyes but looked up again as he heard Ducky approaching.

"You may see Timothy for a few moments," said Dr. Mallard. "Anthony is still in recovery but once he has been moved to the ICU, you may see him as well." Silently Gibbs got to his feet and followed Ducky back to the examining rooms.

Gibbs thought McGee had looked bad lying there in the mud in the arms of a corpse but somehow seeing him covered with wires and tubes was even worse. He had to convince himself there really was a living, breathing person beneath all that. He stared at the swollen open wound of his leg. The doctors had been forced to make several incisions to keep the skin from splitting as the leg continued to swell.

"Are you Special Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs turned to see a young, very tired looking physician standing nearby. "Yeah, I'm Gibbs," he replied feeling equally weary.

"I'm Dr. Turner," said the young man. "Dr. Mallard tells me he's already explained your agent's condition so unless you have any questions, I don't really have anything else to add. Even though Agent McGee's condition hasn't changed, he is tolerating the antivenom so there's still hope." He paused a moment. "He regained consciousness for a few moments and he asked me to give you a message."

Gibbs froze as he turned his attention fully to the doctor. He suddenly felt very afraid. "What did he say?"

"He said to tell you he was sorry." Dr. Turner frowned. "He was quite upset and seemed very guilty about something. He wouldn't calm down until I promised to give you the message. He was also very worried about his friend, Agent DiNozzo. Unfortunately, at that time I had no information to give him."

Gibbs nodded. "I understand."

Dr. Turner nodded. "I'll give you a few moments alone with him." He turned and left.

Gibbs stepped closer to McGee's bed never taking his eyes off the still form. The room was full of the ominous sounds of the ventilator, heart monitor and other medical equipment. "Ah, Tim," he said softly, "You're not the one that should be sorry. I know I said never to apologize but this time, I owe you one. I wasn't there for you and I shoulda been. None of this is your fault. Tony is gonna be OK so don't worry about him. He'd want you to fight this so don't give up, Tim. Damn it, _don't give up_!"

He stood silently for a few moments when he was startled by the loud wail of the heart monitor. Abruptly, several people came swarming into the room pushing Gibbs unceremoniously to the side as they scurried around in their frantic attempts to restart McGee's heart. Gibbs slowly backed away, his own heart pounding in his ears. A nurse gently took hold of his arm and began to guide him back to the waiting area.

"Hello, Agent Gibbs." Gibbs stopped short in surprise then whirled around pulling away from the nurse. There, reclining on a gurney in adjacent cubicle, his face bruised and bloodied was Reverend McAbee, his teeth bared in an unnerving grin. "Fancy meetin' you here."

Gibbs stared in disbelief at the man before him. He took one step towards him, then another. With a deep breath, he pulled himself to a halt knowing if he took one more step, he'd find himself with his hands wrapped around that weasel's throat.

"McAbee," he finally managed, his throat tight with the effort of wrestling with his conscious. How he wanted to kill that son of a bitch.

"McAbee leaned back against the bed peering at Gibbs through narrowed eyes. "I expect you thought I'd be long gone by now, huh? Too bad the damn weather didn't cooperate. Ran off the road and rolled my truck. State troopers found me and can't say it took 'em too long to figure out I was wanted." He lifted an arm to show he was cuffed to the bed.

"Your daughter is dead," said Gibbs coldly. "Found her body in the river."

McAbee was silent for several minutes. "She wasn't really my daughter," he sighed sadly. "She was a street kid I picked up 'bout ten years ago and adopted. She was a good girl. Had a bright future in front of her. Too bad she got soft in the end. She always did have a soft spot in her heart for losers, strays and lost puppies. I'd say your Agent McGee fell into that first category."

Gibbs bristled at this. "McGee is not a loser," he spat. "That kid has more degrees that I can count. He can do things with a computer I can't even begin to understand and on top of that, he's a damn good field agent."

McAbee tilted his head as he regarded Gibbs with a smirk. "Is that so, Agent Gibbs? Did you ever tell _him_ that? You might have just considered yourself just his boss but I could tell by the way he spoke about you that you were a hell of a lot more than that to him. To listen to him, the sun rose and set on Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs and when you rejected him, constantly gave precedence to other agents, mocked him for things that were of interest to him, you drove him away. It was like bein' kicked out of the house by the father you always worshipped. You all but wrapped that boy up and delivered him to my door, Agent Gibbs." He paused, wincing, as he adjusted his position.

"Gibbs," he continued with a small shake of his head, "I am a remarkably good judge of character. That's why I've been so successful. I saw how you treated Timothy that day when you were investigatin' Noah's death. You treated him like he was an idiot yet that boy would have thrown himself in front of a train for you. All he wanted was your approval and acceptance. He found that with us. Sure, it was all a sham, but for awhile, he felt wanted, like he belonged. That's more'n you gave him."

Gibbs just stared at McAbee in a cold silence. What could he say? The man was absolutely right. He had been treating McGee like a second class agent. More and more often it seemed he sent Tony and Ziva out into the field and left McGee back in the office to do the mundane tasks like background checks and phone calls. He had to admit it, but he would never have treated Tony or Ziva like he'd been treating McGee. Why had he recruited him to his team if he wasn't going to use him for anything more than an office assistant with a gun? Gibbs felt sick. When had it gone so wrong?

He looked up as McAbee chuckled. "Finally admittin' it are you, Agent Gibbs? Were you too blind to see what was happenin' to him? I honestly believe he kept hopin' deep down that you would come save him and it killed him that you didn't." He looked up at the ceiling with a sigh. "I hated to have to get rid of that boy but I knew he was too smart. Sure he loved Emmy, but he'd had doubts from the start; he just wouldn't let himself admit it. He wanted so badly for it all to be true. But in the end, he woulda reached a point where he couldn't lie to himself anymore and it would all come crashin' down."

"It did anyway," muttered Gibbs still smarting from the painful truth of McAbee's words.

McAbee shrugged. "Yeah, you're right about that. It surely did and in a big way. Sadly, I'm finished but I knew that was a risk from the start. It was a good run while it lasted. But now, Agent Gibbs, what are you gonna do? I heard that your other agent was gonna be OK and that's good. I never had anything against him. But what will you do if Timothy dies? More importantly what are you gonna do if he lives?"

Before Gibbs could reply an orderly appeared with a nurse and a police officer in tow. "Sorry sir," he said. "We need to move take this man up to radiology."

Gibbs moved out of the way as they wheeled the gurney out of the room. McAbee smiled and gave Gibbs a little salute as he disappeared through the double doors at the end of the hallway. Gibbs stood silently. McAbee's words echoed in his head. _What would he do?_ Silently, he turned and headed back to the waiting room where the rest of the team remained.


	22. Chapter 22

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO**

Ducky looked up and knew immediately that something was wrong. Gibbs was distracted and Ducky could tell by the set of the other man's shoulders, he was upset. The ME rose to his feet and walked to meet Gibbs. "Jethro?"

Gibbs blinked and looked around as if only now aware of where he was. He looked at Ducky who was peering at him worriedly. Across the room, he could see Jimmy, Abby and Ziva rising to their feet, fear in the eyes. "Uh," it took him a moment to collect his thoughts. "He went into cardiac arrest," he managed finally, "But the nurse just told me they got him back."

"Thank God, for that," breathed Ducky in relief but he knew there was something else bothering Gibbs. "And?"

Gibbs looked at him sharply then gave a small rueful smile. "Never could get one past you, huh, Ducky?"

"I've known you too long for that, Jethro."

Gibbs sighed, shoulders slumping slightly. "McAbee was in there. Rolled his truck and the State Troopers brought him in. Had a …unpleasant conversation with him."

"Unpleasant?"

Gibbs looked away, staring off into the distance. "Just pointed out some unpleasant truths concerning McGee. McAbee's exact words were that I 'all but wrapped that boy up and delivered him to his door'. And you know somethin' Duck, he's right. That sonofabitch knew my own agent better after two weeks than I knew him after two years!" He stopped and met Ducky's sympathetic gaze. "Maybe I just didn't understand him. Let's face it, McGee isn't like Tony or Ziva. Like me, they were trained to be out in the field but Tim is a computer guy, all technical with a sharp mind but you know as well as I do that his personality isn't exactly typical for an NCIS field agent. It's been hard for him to fit in and I sure as hell didn't make it any easier."

Ducky laid a hand on Gibbs'shoulder. "Well Jethro, if he lives, then you'll have a chance to rectify the situation, won't you?"

Gibbs grimaced slightly. "_If_ he lives."

XXXX

Tony opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed was the lack of rain. _Thank God for that_. He slowly let his eyes adjust as he looked around the dimly lit room. It was a hospital room. Well, that was good. That meant he wasn't dead and that was a pleasant thought. He took a deep breath and hissed in pain. Okay, he wouldn't do _that_ again. A movement caught his attention and he noticed there was someone sitting in a chair nearby. He squinted trying to make out the figure in the dim light. The figure lifted its head and Tony met the steel blue eyes of Gibbs. A moment later, Gibbs was by his side gazing down at him.

"Tony?"

"Hey Boss," replied Tony weakly with a smile. "Good to see ya again."

Gibbs smiled back. "It's good to see _you_ again, DiNozzo. Thought we'd lost you there for awhile."

Tony gave a small laugh. "Now Boss, you know it'll take more than a bunch of redneck hillbillies to get rid of me!" Suddenly he frowned and his eyes went wide. "McGee? Did you find him? He OK? What about Ziva? "

For a moment Gibbs didn't meet his eyes. "Gibbs!" Tony tried to push himself up straighter.

"Easy, Tony," replied Gibbs quickly placing a hand on the other man's shoulder to calm him. "Relax! Ziva is fine. Bullet grazed her skull but she's okay. As for McGee, yes, we did find him. And he was alive. Still is for that matter…"

"But?" Tony was eyeing him sharply. Even now, groggy as he was, Tony was picking up on Gibbs' signals.

Gibbs sighed, "But he's not doing well. They've given him 40 vials of antivenom. That's about the limit. Most of the time they don't need more than 15. He's still alive but not improving much. They think the drugs he was taking has just made it all that much worse. "

Tony was silent as he digested this. "He's a fighter, Boss. You shoulda seen him out there in the woods. He saved my life. Pulled me out that damn river! Sick as he was, he still managed to do that." He paused to catch his breath then looked at Gibbs sadly. "We really screwed up, Boss. "

Gibbs shook his head. "No, Tony, you didn't screw up, _I _did."

"No, Boss, we _all_ did. We ignored the signs. We could see something was wrong but let it go figuring it was just McGee bein' weird." Tony closed his eyes and winced in pain. He suddenly felt very, very tired. He opened his eyes again for a moment. "He'll be OK, Boss. You'll see and then we'll do right by him." Slowly his eyes closed once more and in an instant he was asleep.

Gibbs looked down at Tony with a certain fondness. Yeah, DiNozzo could be abrasive and obnoxious but he had a real heart and was fiercely loyal to his teammates. He had grown a lot from the cocky playboy Gibbs first knew to one hell of an agent. He knew Tony was ready for a team of his own but suspected DiNozzo didn't want to abandon the team he had grown to trust and look to like a family. Sometimes that kind of security was more important than a promotion. Gibbs gave a wry smile. But he knew the day would come eventually and he'd regret seeing DiNozzo leave the nest regardless of how much the younger agent deserved it.

"Yeah, Tony," Gibbs said softly. "We'll make it right." He looked up as the door opened and Ziva stood there a cup of coffee in her hand. She held it out to him.

"I thought you might like a break," she said quietly looking down at Tony.

"He woke up a few minutes ago," commented Gibbs as she stood next to him. "I think he's going to be fine."

She smiled. There were times she really wasn't sure how she felt about Tony but she knew seeing him injured like this was very painful.

"Any word on Tim?" Gibbs asked.

Ziva shook her head and sighed sadly as she settled into the corner chair. "No improvement. Ducky said his heart stopped again but they restarted it once more." She paused and rubbed her eyes. She had gone home for a few hours to sleep but it hadn't been nearly enough. "I am sorry we were not able to stop McAbee in time. We were so close."

"It's not your fault, Ziva," replied Gibbs wearily. Was everyone going to take the blame for this situation? It was almost funny in a pathetic sort of way. "You and Tony did good. McGee would definitely be dead by now if you hadn't been there."

Ziva gave a small grunt of dissatisfaction. She wasn't used to failure and didn't like it. If they had reached the cabin even five minutes earlier they could have saved McGee. Poor McGee. She shook her head as she watched Gibbs leave the room. She liked McGee. He was kind and had welcomed her warmly when she first joined the team. But, sometimes he simply got overlooked. He did his job quietly and efficiently and people sometimes forgot he was there. That had been the crux of this whole problem hadn't it? Looking back, it was obvious that something had been wrong with McGee. She remembered the conversation she'd had with Abby about that very thing yet they had done nothing. It was easier to believe it was nothing serious. But she remembered how concerned she'd been when Tony was secretly dating Jeanne Benoit. She had asked Gibbs repeatedly what was wrong with Tony, had tried to find out if he was seeing a doctor, and worried that he was sick. But what had she done when McGee suddenly went through a radical personality change within a week and appeared physically ill? Nothing. None of them had.

Oh yes, they had talked about him behind his back but not one of them had approached him with the serious intention of finding out what was wrong. They just let it slide. Would they have done that with anyone else on the team? She didn't think so. She felt guilty and she didn't like it. Why were they all so willing to treat McGee like he didn't really matter? No wonder he went off and joined McAbee and his church.

Settling into the chair recently vacated by Gibbs, Ziva sighed again and rested her aching head on her hand. She glanced at Tony's sleeping form in the bed. She was so relieved that he would be all right and suddenly realized that McGee's recovery was equally important to her. She didn't want to think about facing his empty desk every day. She closed her eyes and lulled by the quiet hum of the equipment in the room slowly drifted off to sleep.

XXXXXX

Abby was sitting silently in the seat near McGee's bed. They were all taking turns staying with Tony and Tim and now it was her turn. Tim was in ICU so the doctors were limiting the time they allowed visitors but Abby had managed to convince the nurse to let her stay longer. Abby's desperately earnest pleas and sweet nature had won the nurse over. So, now Abby sat in the small space full of noisy medical equipment trying her best to will Tim to live. His gray, corpse-like face pulled at her heart-strings. She reached over and gently touched his burning cheek. Abby cursed that damn snake and that damn girl who had stolen McGee's heart then led him to his death like a sheep to slaughter. How could anyone do that to someone like Tim? She felt a pang of guilt. Who indeed?

She knew McGee had feelings for her; had ever since he first heard her voice but she wasn't ready for someone like Tim. He was serious and believed in commitments. Abby had too much life she wanted to explore before settling down with anyone if she ever decided to settle down. Right now, she loved her life and her freedom but she couldn't help wonder if her need to be free helped push McGee into the arms of that witch.

"Oh, Timmy," she said softly as she brushed a strand of damp hair from his brow, "I'm so sorry. We really blew it, didn't we? But, Tim, we were so wrong and we need you! Please don't die! You gotta fight this, McGee!" Somehow, Abby never pictured McGee in this situation. Sure, Gibbs, Tony and Ziva had all had some serious brushes with death but McGee seemed charmed. Well, she took that back. If she really thought about, it was probably due more to the fact that Gibbs seemed reluctant to send McGee into the same dangerous situations that he did Tony and Ziva with great regularity. She knew that McGee was often frustrated by that. He wanted to be a field agent so he could go out into the field and not spend all his time doing routine background checks. He could have stayed in cybercrimes if he'd wanted to spend all his time at a computer.

Abby looked up as a doctor walked in. He smiled grimly at her as he checked McGee's chart. He didn't look happy.

"Is he any better?" she asked hopefully.

Dr. Turner sighed. "I'm afraid not. His blood pressure is still dangerously low, kidney function is nonexistent and he's beginning to show signs of congestive heart failure. I appreciate you giving us the information on the drug they were feeding him. That explained, at least to some degree, why he hasn't been improving as well as we had hoped. Between the venom and that drug, I'm surprised he's survived this long." He glanced over at Abby and winced at her bleak expression. He placed a hand on Abby's shoulder and looked into her eyes. "But, every moment he's still alive is a step in the right direction. He hasn't given up yet and neither will we." He then wrote some notes in McGee's chart and left Abby to her thoughts and the ever-present sound of the machines; the only things keeping Tim alive.

XXXXX

Ducky met Gibbs in the hallway as he and Jimmy were heading towards Tony's room. At a sign from Ducky, Jimmy gave a nod to Gibbs and continued on to Tony's room to keep Ziva company.

"How is Anthony?" asked Ducky watching Gibbs carefully.

Gibbs gave a small smile. "You know DiNozzo; he's tough. Woke up for a little while. First thing he did was ask about Ziva and McGee."

Ducky smiled fondly. "I'm not surprised. Behind that devil-may-care exterior is a very warm and caring man. His team means a lot to him."

"He said Tim saved his life. Pulled him out of that river." Gibbs gave a rueful laugh. "I send Tony out to rescue him and in the end, Tim saves _him_. You saw what McGee looks like. It doesn't look like he could have pulled a leaf out that river much less DiNozzo."

"Timothy has an inner core of strength that we don't often see," nodded Ducky with a sad smile.

Gibbs frowned. "Is he worse?"

Ducky sighed. "Yes, I'm afraid so. He's beginning to develop congestive heart failure. Fluid is collecting in his lungs and around his heart. It is not a good sign. I believe he may be giving up."

"Damn." Gibbs looked away and closed his eyes.

"Jethro," said Ducky quietly. "I think perhaps it is time for you to speak with him again. Yours is a voice he respects and perhaps you can get through to him where the rest of us cannot."

Gibbs shook his head. "Ducky, I'm the reason he's in this situation! I ignored the signs; drove him away. Why would he listen to me now?"

"For that very reason, Jethro," replied Ducky emphatically. "You know how all your team respects you and craves your approval. A simple 'well done' from you means more than would a medal from the president! Timothy obviously felt marginalized as if he was not really an important part of the team but he wanted more than anything to belong. Unfortunately, highly intelligent young men like Timothy are often labeled as "nerds" or "geeks" and ostracized for their abilities. We know that happened to Timothy when he was younger and I think for awhile he thought he'd found a place on your team where he was accepted. I don't know exactly what happened to change that but now is an opportunity to bring Timothy back into the fold as it were." Ducky paused as he observed Gibbs' doubtful expression. "Jethro, right now, it's our only hope."

Gibbs gave a long, heartfelt sigh then nodded slowly. He didn't think it would help but he'd do his best. It was the least he could do.


	23. Chapter 23

A/N Thanks again to all my faithful readers and reviewers! I may not be able to update for a few days due to some family affairs but I'll try and get the next chapter up asap. The story will soon be coming to an end and I really appreciate all your support! Thanks so much!

**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE**

Gibbs stepped quietly into ICU where he could see Abby still sitting by McGee's side, her face a study in desolation. He felt his heart wrench at her expression. She looked up and met his eyes and he felt his breath catch. She'd given up; he could see it in her hopeless expression. She stood up and walked slowly towards him.

"He's dying, Gibbs," she said in a low, desolate tone. Her pale cheeks were streaked with tears but now her eyes were dry yet brimming with pain. She closed them and swayed. Gibbs caught her as her knees buckled and gently lowered her to the floor. A nurse came hurrying over.

"Oh the poor dear," she said shaking her head. "I suspect she hasn't eaten anything or slept in some time and it finally caught up with her." She broke open a vial and waved it under Abby's nose. The girl's eyes fluttered open as she looked around in confusion.

"Abby?" said Gibbs quietly. "Are you all right?"

"Gibbs?" She frowned then her eyes widened. "Don't tell me I fainted!"

He gave her a wry smile. "OK, I won't." He and the nurse carefully helped her up and to a nearby chair. "When is the last time you ate anything, Abby?"

Abby's eyes blinked. "Uh…"

"Hmm. That's what I thought." Gibbs shook his head. "C'mon, let's find Ducky and he can make sure you get some food then I need to spend some time with Tim."

She looked up at him hopefully. "Oh yes, Gibbs! Talk to Tim! Don't let him give up! He'll listen to you!"

Gibbs sighed. "I dunno about that, Abs. All I can do is try."

After Gibbs had turned Abby over to the care of Dr. Mallard, he made his way back to Tim's room. He felt a great reluctance. He honestly didn't think his talking to McGee would make one iota of difference at this point but everyone seemed to think it was McGee's last chance. He met Dr. Turner as the physician exited Tim's room; his face grim. He looked up in surprise seeing Gibbs before him.

"Doc?"

Dr. Turner sighed. "He's lapsed into a coma, Agent Gibbs. I'm afraid this may be a sign that he hasn't much longer." He rubbed his eyes. "If only we can keep him alive long enough for the antivenom to neutralize the poison!" he growled in frustration. "It's just that he received so much venom and it took so long to get the antivenom into him that it allowed the poison a lot of time to do its damage. We've managed to at least neutralize the effects of that drug he was taking. It was amplifying the damage being done by the venom which just complicated the entire situation. "

"I'd like to sit with him awhile, Doc," said Gibbs looking past the doctor at the figure lying motionless in the bed beyond.

"By all means, Agent Gibbs," nodded the doctor. "Talk to him. We know people in comas can often hear what people say to them. Maybe you can convince him to keep fighting. Lord knows we're doing all we can." With a last look at his patient, Dr. Turner turned and walked away.

Gibbs entered the room and filled Abby's vacant space. He swallowed and he studied McGee. He really did look bad, thought Gibbs gloomily. As he listened to the sounds of the surrounding machines Gibbs laid a hand on McGee's shoulder. "Tim," he said softly, "Tim, I don't know if you can hear me, but I want you to listen. I know I told you this before, but I need to say it again. I was wrong. I treated you badly and that was my mistake. You are a damn good agent, Tim, and I lost sight of that somehow. I was so caught up in my own problems I wasn't there when one of my team needed me and that was wrong. We need you Tim. _All of us_. Everyone on my team is important and you no less than anyone else. Give us a chance to make it up to you. Ziva and Tony and myself. Just _don't give up_!"

XXXXX

A day passed, and then another and another. Tony's condition improved and they were able to move him into a regular room where he occupied himself by griping about the food and flirting with the nurses but his mind was never far from his partner. Still in a coma, Tim nevertheless was hanging on, weathering one crisis after another. Every time the doctors were certain they were going to lose him, McGee managed to rally.

Director Vance had come out to assess the situation and brought Tim's sister, Sarah with him. Her parents were on their way but had been trapped in Africa when a coup closed all transportation from where they had been involved in some charity work. They weren't in any immediate danger but were unable to leave the country. Sarah had been become almost hysterical when she'd first seen her brother. Abby and Ziva were finally able to calm her down and stayed close by her side from then on offering what support they could.

"I know technically he resigned," said Vance to Gibbs while they sat in the hospital cafeteria drinking coffee, "But I never put it through. Good thing or he'd have no medical insurance!" He shook his head. "What a mess." He looked at Gibbs. "If he lives, do you think he'll want to come back to NCIS assuming of course, he's able to?"

Gibbs studied his reflection in his coffee. "I dunno, Leon. I'm not sure how much of the anger that drove him away in the first place was due to how we actually treated him as opposed to how much was due to whatever they were drugging him with."

"Well, even if he doesn't want to return to your team, Gibbs, I still hope we can get him back. There's no better computer hacker in the agency. That guy can work miracles and we need someone like him."

Gibbs bit back a response. He resented the implication that McGee would prefer to go back into cybercrimes even if he personally feared that would be the case. He had spent many hours sitting by McGee's side during the past several days doing his best to encourage the young man to stay with them. He was actually beginning to think he'd made some impression. The fact that McGee was still alive and beginning to show some improvement was very encouraging. Gibbs still nurtured the belief that he could bring McGee back to the team.

XXXXXX

Sarah McGee sat dozing in the chair beside her brother's bed. How she wished her parents could be here with her. She was grateful Tim's coworkers were here to give her support, but it wasn't the same. She had been by his bedside till late last night and returned early this morning. The doctors were getting concerned. His fever was rising again and they were having trouble controlling the fluid collecting around his heart. She opened her eyes as a nurse entered the room and checked his vitals. As she watched the nurse's face cloud over, Sarah felt a jolt of fear run through her. She sat up, alert now. "Is something wrong?"

The nurse looked up quickly as if she hadn't noticed Sarah sitting there. "I'm not sure," she hedged. "I'd better call Dr. Turner. I'll be right back." The nurse hurried off with Sarah staring after her.

Now Sarah turned to her brother and realized he looked oddly yellowish and more bloated than she'd remembered. Her fear jumped up several notches. This couldn't be good. She grabbed Tim's hand. "C'mon Tim," she said urgently. "Don't do this to me! _Don't_ _leave me alone!_ I love you Tim and I can't live without my big brother around to watch out for me! Please, Tim, fight this!" She looked up as Dr. Turner and the nurse hurried in.

"Miss McGee, would you please wait outside while I examine your brother?" asked Dr. Turner absently his attention focused on his patient. Sarah opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when another nurse took her gently by the arm and led her out to the waiting area.

"We'll come get you as soon as the doctor is done," said the nurse quietly and hurried away. Sarah was terrified and felt completely abandoned. Wiping away her tears, she looked up and smiled faintly with relief as she spotted Dr. Mallard enter the waiting area. Ducky frowned seeing Sarah McGee all alone and hurried over.

"Is there something wrong, Sarah?" he asked sitting down beside her and taking her trembling hand.

"I don't know," cried Sarah again wiping away tears. "The nurse came in, looked at Tim and ran off to get the doctor. When he got there, they chased me out." Suddenly, she couldn't bear it any long and completely broke down as Ducky wrapped his arms around her. Her entire body shook with deep, tormented sobs as she released her fear and anguish at the possibility of losing her only brother.

"I _can't_ lose him, Dr. Mallard!" she sobbed. "I just can't!"

"It's all right, my dear," soothed Ducky softly. "Let it all out." Inside, his own heart was breaking the sound of the girl's heart-wrenching grief.

Dr. Turner rubbed his eyes wearily as he studied McGee's latest blood chemistry results. After holding steady for the past day or two, McGee's condition seemed to be rapidly deteriorating. Just moments ago, they had to restart his failing heart once again. It looked like they may have finally come to the end of the road. Agent McGee was now beginning to experience multi-system organ failure and Turner sighed as he noted the distinctive yellowing of McGee's skin. His liver was starting to fail now and that meant death probably wasn't far behind. He and the nurse exchanged unhappy glances. He felt his shoulders slump as he realized it was time to break the news to McGee's young sister. With a final look at his patient, he slowly turned and started towards the waiting room. It would be one of the longest trips of his life.

XXXX

McGee knew he was alive but he felt as if he were on the edge of a precipice; that the slightest touch could send him plummeting to his death or anchor him to solid earth. He'd had dreams, or at least he assumed they were dreams, of his NCIS teammates talking to him; begging him not to give up, to keep fighting. He could have sworn one of those voices belonged to Gibbs himself. Well, that wasn't very likely now was it? Or…was it? McGee knew he could be gullible to the point of naïve although his stint with NCIS had made him a bit more cynical and wary but maybe Gibbs really _had_ spoken to him.

He knew his sister, Sarah, had called to him. He still felt the pain in his heart thinking he might leave her alone. But his mind kept returning to Gibbs. Had Gibbs really apologized for treating him poorly; pleaded with him to fight and that they all wanted him, no, needed him? Tim wanted to believe that more than anything. But Gibbs actually _apologizing?_ That would be a cold day in hell! He knew now he had been terribly, disastrously wrong about McAbee, the church, the snakes, and…Emmy. Emmy. Had he been completely wrong about her?

_No, Tim. You weren't completely wrong about me. I did try to help you in the end._

Emmy stood beside him, as beautiful and as radiant as he remember her. She smiled sadly at him.

_You…you're dead, aren't you, Emmy_? He felt as if his heart would break.

_Yes, Tim, I am_.

_Then I have no reason to live. I loved you with all my heart, Emmy. I don't think I can go on without you. _Tim took a step towards the precipice. The nurse turned in alarm at the change in his heart monitor.

Emmy shook her head slowly_. No, Tim, it's not your time; there are things you need to do. You have a life left to live. You are still needed._

_Oh yeah? Exactly what am I needed for?_ He demanded bitterly. _The team works fine without me. Computer geeks are a dime a dozen these days. Gibbs can pick one up anywhere. _

_Oh Tim!_ Sighed Emmy her face full of grief. _Do you really believe that? Your friends have not left your side since they found you. They are so worried about you. Agent Gibbs is here more than any of them. Time after time he's told you that he regrets how he treated you and wants to make it up to you. Have you not heard his words?_

Tim was silent. _I thought I was just dreaming_, he admitted reluctantly. _I thought it was because that's what I wanted him to say. _

_Well he did say it! What more do you want, Tim? Do you really want to die? Do you not care about your sister or your parents? How much will it hurt them to lose you? What about Agent DiNozzo or Abby or Officer David? Do they not matter to you? You risked your life to save Agent DiNozzo's; he must mean something to you. _

Tim wanted to run away from her words. He knew she was right. He didn't want to die; not really. He looked into Emmy's wide blue eyes. _But I loved you so much,_ he whispered.

Emmy gave him a small, rueful smile. _You loved a pretend Emmy_, she said. _I made myself into the kind of girl you would have loved. I was quite good at that, you know. I'm not really that girl you fell in love with, Tim. I left you to die._

_But you came back, didn't you? You died trying to save me so doesn't that mean you did care about me, even just a little bit? _Suddenly, this was very, very important to Tim. He wanted to believe that even if she wasn't really the Emmy McAbee he fell in love with, he'd been important enough to her to try and save his life. He just wanted to know that he had really and truly mattered to someone. He looked pleadingly into her eyes, begging her to answer because he knew that this was the touch that could send him over the precipice or back to solid ground and life.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N Sorry it took a couple of days to update. I hope this chapter makes sense! Thanks again for all of your wonderful support!

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR**

Ducky stepped away from Sarah for a moment and called Gibbs. "I think something may be happening with Timothy," he said grimly. "The doctor just chased Sarah out of the room."

"I'll be right up."

In the cafeteria, Gibbs snapped his phone shut with a sigh. Vance looked at him. "Bad news?"

"Maybe. Ducky said the docs just kicked Sarah out." Gibbs took a final gulp of his coffee and got to his feet. "Better go find out what's going on."

Vance got to his feet and together they took the elevator to the ICU waiting area. Gibbs' jaw tightened as he spotted Ducky and a sobbing Sarah McGee. The two men hurried over just as Dr. Turner appeared looking grim. Sarah turned to the doctor, her eyes wide with terror. "He's dead isn't he!" Ducky could feel her shaking as he held her tightly.

Turner sighed. "No, but he's failing. We're seeing signs of multisystem organ failure and once that gets going it can be impossible to stop. A few minutes ago he went into cardiac arrest again. We were able to restart his heart but for awhile we didn't think it was going to work. Each time that happens it weakens his heart further." He paused and looked directly into Sarah's eyes. "Miss McGee, I'm afraid you need to prepare for the end."

Sarah stared at him for a long moment, slowly shaking her head before burying her face in Ducky's shoulder, her entire body shaking with deep, wrenching sobs. Gibbs could feel tears prickling the back of his own eyes. He turned to Dr. Turner who was watching Sarah bleakly. "How long?"

Turner blinked and pulled his attention away from the weeping girl. "At the current rate of deterioration, probably no more than a few hours. I'm really sorry, Agent Gibbs. I honestly thought he had a chance. If he could hold on just another day, I think the antivenom would finally neutralize enough of the venom that he could make it but it doesn't look like he's going last that long."

Gibbs at first felt numb with disbelief but within that he could feel a core anger starting to build. This was _not_ right! McGee should not be dying! He abruptly turned and strode out of the waiting area to McGee's room. He halted at the end of McGee's bed and stood silently watching Tim. He didn't know what else to say. Ducky and Sarah had entered and stood beside him. Ducky glanced at Gibbs' stony face, only the man's eyes expressing the deep pain he was experiencing. Gibbs saw Ducky was supporting the weeping Sarah McGee. He could hear her softly begging her brother to stay. In the waiting room, the M.E. had called Abby and Ziva. Ziva was currently sitting with Tony and was on her way and Abby would get to the hospital as soon as Palmer picked her up. Vance stood quietly in the background out of the way.

Gibbs turned at a sound behind him. Ziva was arriving and surprisingly was pushing a pale, bandaged DiNozzo in a wheelchair. "He insisted on coming," said Ziva with a shrug.

The others moved out of the small space so Tony could have room. DiNozzo was appalled at the change in his partner's appearance. "Oh, McGee," he said softly, "What have they done to you?"

He looked to Gibbs who gave a small shake of his head. Tony felt ill. "C'mon, Tim," begged Tony now leaning close to McGee, unshed tears glistening, "Don't do this to me! You saved my life and you _gotta _give me a chance to make it up to you! At the very least, it'll give you something to hold over my head for like forever…you don't wanna miss out on that do you?" He placed his hand on Tim's arm. "You're my number one Probie, McGee, and I don't wanna lose you."

It wasn't long before Abby and Jimmy Palmer arrived. Abby was thrilled to see Tony up even if they were in process returning him to his room. Even this short outing had exhausted him and he looked paler than before. "Talk to him Abs," said Tony grabbing her hand. "Tell him you need him."

"I have, Tony, at least a million times," replied Abby tearfully.

"Yeah, I know, but I have a feeling right now, he needs to hear it more than ever." Tony closed his eyes and grimaced in pain. Ziva exchanged worried looks with Abby then continued returning Tony to his room.

Abby could say nothing as she slowly approached Tim. The irregular beeping of the heart monitor and the constant whoosh of the ventilator grated on her nerves. She was dimly aware of others around her but right now all she could see was her Timmy, on the verge of death, lying motionless in the bed. She'd seen corpses in Ducky's morgue that looked better than McGee right now.

Like Tony before her she leaned close to Tim's ear and whispered, "I love you, Tim, _please_ stay. I don't want to have to say good-bye!" Then she choked. She couldn't seem to get another word past the lump in her throat. Tears now ran freely down her face. She stood and Gibbs gently took her in his arms and hugged her.

"It's OK, Abs," he said softly.

"No, Gibbs, it's _not_," she sobbed. "Timmy is dying! There's _nothing _okay about that!"

A few moments later a nurse appeared looking uncomfortable. "I'm sorry," she apologize, "But I'm going to have to ask some of you to leave. Really, only family is allowed but…" she trailed off uncertainly as they all turned to glare at her. She sighed in resignation. "All right, you're all family as far as I'm concerned, but please only one person at a time."

Gibbs looked at the others. "I'd like just a minute alone with him," he said. The others looked at Sarah who nodded wearily.

"Come along, my dear," said Ducky gently leading Sarah from the room, "Let us get some food into you. I know you aren't hungry but you need to keep your strength up." Sarah took one last mournful look at her brother then allowed herself to be led away, Abby and Jimmy trailing behind. Vance gave one last look at Gibbs and McGee then followed.

Alone once more, Gibbs studied McGee's face, still trying to reconcile the haggard, corpse-like face with the agent he'd been working with for the past several years. It was if they were two different people entirely. McGee's skin resembled old, yellowed parchment; his eyes were sunk deep in his skull. Gibbs glanced at the heart monitor and felt a surge of fear at the sound of the irregular rhythm. How could he get through to Tim; make him understand that they _needed_ him!

He moved to the head of the bed. "Tim," he said forcefully laying his hand on McGee's shoulder. "Listen to me! You must _not_ die! Do you hear me? Your sister needs you, your team needs you, and…" he swallowed. "I need you." He lowered his head to his chest. His throat felt tight and he could barely swallow. He felt so damn helpless! He couldn't lose another member of his team, he just couldn't! Absently, he put his hand in his pocket and frowned slightly. He pulled out the small broken antivenom vial he'd found. Gibbs studied it for a few moments thinking how much the girl had meant to McGee. She had been the start of all this and even though she had led McGee to his death, she hadn't entirely abandoned him at the end. Perhaps she could still help him. He looked thoughtfully at McGee then took the vial and gently placed it in McGee's lifeless hand, wrapping his fingers around the symbol of Emmy's love. "Tim, Emmy _did_ love you. She tried to get to you with the antivenom and died in the attempt. She gave her life in the end to try and save yours," he whispered. "Don't let her sacrifice be in vain."

XXXXXX

_He's here again_, said Emmy suddenly looking away. Now she looked back to McGee her eyes sad. _Listen to him, Tim. Please. He has the answer to your question._ She smiled gently at him and slowly began to fade. Listen to him!

_Emmy!_ Cried McGee desperately. _Please! Don't leave me!_ But she was gone. Tim was alone in his world of desolation once more. He wanted to give up, just stop fighting. What was the point? But she'd made one last request of him: Listen to Gibbs.

Far away, he could hear a voice. He'd heard it before but he hadn't thought it was anything more than a dream yet Emmy told him to listen and he would learn the answer to his question. Well, it was only one small thing and then he could surrender; the pain, the suffering, the uncertainty would all be over. He had to concentrate hard; he could feel himself drifting away and he knew if he let go, that would be the end. But, he had promised Emmy so he had to do his best.

It was Gibbs' voice. Tim felt a mixture of feelings: anger, hope, fear…all fighting to come to the forefront. Tim pushed them down and listened, trying to concentrate, trying to hold onto the thin thread of life that still tethered him to this world. What was Gibbs saying?

_Your sister needs you, your team needs you…I need you…_

Tim could feel his mind reel. _Gibbs_ needed him? Well that was a first. But Tim then felt a small thrill of hope. Perhaps he wasn't totally useless after all? But inwardly he frowned, that still didn't answer his question: Did Emmy care for him at all? He felt his concentration begin to waver. It was just so hard! It would be a very easy thing to simply let go…let it all go.

But then Gibbs spoke again and these words seemed to resonate through Tim's mind: _Tim, Emmy did love you. She tried to get to you with the antivenom and died in the attempt. She gave her life in the end to try and save yours. Don't let her sacrifice be in vain."_

Suddenly, he became aware of something small and hard in his hand. In his mind's eye, he could see it, a small broken vial and with the label Crotalidae Polyvalent Antivenom. He could hear Emmy's distant voice gently float to him. _There is your answer, Tim. Please don't give up! For my sake and the sake of those who love you please fight…_

Tim's mind was a maelstrom of confusing and conflicting emotions. Emmy _did_ care for him! Despite leading him to his death, she was going to try and save his life with the antivenom. So in the end, he had meant something to her. He wasn't sure what to do. He'd loved her so deeply but he knew she'd never felt the same way about him and now she was gone. If she hadn't tried to reach him with the antivenom, she'd be alive now. Even if she hadn't really loved him, she'd been willing to risk her own life to try and save his. Was he going to let that sacrifice mean nothing? _Oh Emmy…_

XXXXXXX

Gibbs sighed, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. There was nothing else he could do now, nothing anyone could do but wait for the end. As he watched McGee for a few more moments, he felt himself go cold. McGee's hand had moved! As Gibbs watched frozen in shock, McGee's hand slowly closed around the small, broken vial.

A moment later, the squeal of the heart monitor alarm jolted him back and once more the nurses and doctor came swarming. Gibbs stepped out of the way but refused to leave as they pulled out the defibrillator paddles preparing to shock Tim's heart.

So this is how it ends, he thought distantly. He felt numb but he knew from experience that when the grief hit, it would hit hard. He'd failed McGee. How many more people were going to suffer because he wasn't there for them? He threw his head back, eyes closed against the tears as he listened to the doctors and nurses doing their job.

"Clear!"

He heard McGee's body convulse as the electricity surged through it trying to restart his broken heart. The continuous whine of the monitor announced the failure of the first attempt. The doctor called out for an increase in power and tried again.

"Clear!" _Whump._ Gibbs winced at the sound of the defibrillator being discharged a second time but his eyes snapped opened as he heard the squeal morph into the sound of a steady heartbeat. The nurses and doctor were staring intently at the monitor with bated breath. The heartbeat continued at a regular, normal rhythm once more.

Dr. Turner looked at Gibbs with a mixture of hope and confusion. "We haven't seen this strong a heartbeat since he arrived," he said looking back at the monitor's output as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

"That's a good thing, right?" asked Gibbs warily.

"Definitely!" replied Dr. Turner trying not to get too excited by this sign of improvement in his patient. "But I don't know if will mean anything in the long run. However if his heart rate stays like this, then I think he might have a chance. If we can prevent any further deterioration we might be able to stop the organ failure before it becomes irreversible. As I told you earlier, I honestly believe if he can hold out a little longer, enough of the venom will be neutralized to allow his body to begin to recover. " He paused and studied his patient thoughtfully. "Perhaps he's decided to fight back at last."

As the medical staff went about their business, Gibbs looked down at McGee and gave him a small, pleased smile. "Attaboy, McGee."


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! School let out, kids are home and life is getting busy. Only one chapter after this one so will post it very soon. Thanks again!**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE**

McGee's eyes fluttered open. Where was he? He could hear machines and he was lying down on something soft so he assumed he was no longer out on the woods.

"Tim? C'mon Tim, wake up!"

It took a moment for Tim to recognize the voice. Sarah? Sarah was here? He opened his eyes completely and met those of his sister who was peering down at him, her face grey with exhaustion but her eyes bright with hope.

"Sarah?" he croaked, barely able to get a sound out.

"Yeah, Tim!" she said, tears now running down her face as she pushed her long brown hair out of her face. "It's me!"

Tim frowned in confusion. "Whatr …you…doin' here?" His mouth was so dry and his throat so sore that making any sound at all was a chore. Sarah, seeming to recognize this gently lifted his head and placed a plastic straw between his lips. In a moment, cool, soothing water came flowing into his mouth washing away the cobwebs.

"Not too much!" smiled Sarah wiping away more tears. She couldn't believe Tim had regained consciousness and was actually talking to her!

With a contented sigh, he rested back onto the pillow and looked as his sister once more as he struggled to recall the events that brought him to this place. It was obviously a hospital, that much was clear. He cleared his throat and tried again. "What…happened?"

"Don't you remember, Tim?" asked Sarah in confusion. She figured he'd remember everything as soon as he woke up. "You got bit by a snake and almost died!"

_Snake...snake…snake_…the word echoed through his mind as he considered its meaning, then his eyes widened as the memories came rushing back: Emmy…the church…Beelzebub… DiNozzo! He'd been shot!

"Tony!"

Sarah placed a hand on her brother's shoulder. "It's OK, Tim," she soothed. "He's OK. He's even been to see you. He's going to be just fine!"

Tim closed his eyes feeling overwhelmed by relief. He remembered everything, every unhappy, painful event. God, how could he have been so _stupid_! Once again he'd let himself be swayed by a pretty face and where had that gotten him? Almost killed…again.

He turned again to Sarah. "How…" It was too hard to say more.

"How did you get here?" He nodded. Sarah took a deep breath. "Gibbs and Ziva went out to find you and Tommy…I mean, Tony. They found Tony first and then Gibbs kept looking for you and they found you in the river with that girl…" she snapped her mouth shut. She hadn't meant to mention Emmy for fear it would upset her brother.

"Emmy…dead," said Tim slowly not looking at her.

"Yeah, Tim," replied Sarah uncomfortably. "She's dead but Gibbs said she did try to rescue you. She had some antivenom with her."

Tim gave a small nod as he closed his eyes again. He knew that somehow. He'd had dreams where she'd come to him and told him that. At least he _thought_ they were dreams. He dreamt she'd told him she'd cared for him in the end despite what she'd done to him and even though he knew it was stupid, that meant a lot to him. With that thought, he drifted off to sleep again.

Sarah sat beside his bedside, holding his hand as if that would keep him with her. The doctors were optimistic now that he would recover. His heart had gradually gotten stronger and with time the other organs began to recover. They'd taken him off the ventilator just this morning and it was a cause for celebration that he'd been able to breathe on his own. Plus, she'd gotten a message from her parents. They had finally managed to catch a flight out of Africa and should be with her in a couple of days. She'd been terrified Tim would die before they could get here. Now, she could give them more positive news.

She thought back over the past few days since Tim seemed to rally. His NCIS friends had been instrumental in keeping her from completely losing it. Sure, she knew she loved her brother but it wasn't until she had to watch him go through this horrible ordeal that she realized how empty her life would be without him in it. He could drive her nuts with all his computer games and technobabble but he had always been there for her when she really needed him like the time she was a suspect in a murder case. He'd even resigned from NCIS because she meant more to him that his beloved job. He was her big brother but to see him so vulnerable had been more painful than she could possibly have imagined. She still wasn't sure what had driven him to join that weird snake handling church or to marry that girl that let them try to kill Tim. She understood the church had been drugging him but none of Tim's friends would really talk to her about it. However she knew how insecure her brother could be, always needing affirmation. Even as a kid. He _had_ to win ribbons and trophies in all those math bowls, science fairs and academic pentathlons just to prove to himself he was a smart as other people thought he was. Maybe something had happened at work that sent him looking for that affirmation elsewhere. But a church! And a weird snake handling church to boot? That just didn't make any sense to Sarah as far as her straight-laced brother was concerned. He must have been drugged!

She closed her eyes and stretched. God, she was tired! She'd lost all track of time here in the windowless confines the ICU. She only remembered to eat because that nice Dr. Mallard would drag her off periodically to the hospital cafeteria. She didn't even mind listening to his stories. They had distracted her from her worries about Tim. In a way it was like listening to Tim when he'd get excited about a new online game or God forbid, rocket packs! She smiled fondly at her brother. Yeah, he was definitely a geek, but he was _her_ geek and she couldn't imagine life without him.

She looked up to see Agent Gibbs standing in the doorway watching her with a smile. "How's he doin'?" he asked quietly.

She glanced at Tim's sleeping face. "He woke up a short while ago," she said her voice rough. "He remembered everything." A shadow crossed over her face and she turned to face Gibbs directly. "Agent Gibbs, what really happened? Why did he leave NCIS for some crazy church? Why?"

Gibbs swallowed, his jaw tightening as he considered her question. How did he explain this? He sighed. "Sarah, the simple truth is I screwed up. I let other things get in the way of watching out for my team and I didn't see the signs that something was wrong. I took your brother for granted and forgot how important he really is to the team."

Sarah scowled. "So you drove him to join this crazy snake cult?"

"No, not exactly," replied Gibbs sadly. "I'm supposed to understand what makes each of my team tick; their strengths, their weaknesses, so I can use them to their best advantage. Tim is different than the agents I usually deal with. When it comes to computers, only Abby comes close to his abilities. Tony and Ziva came from law enforcement backgrounds, well Ziva might have been a bit more than that and I'm military. Tim came from MIT and hardly what I would call typical cop material. Even if he can be a bit full of himself, he's a genuinely nice guy and one of the hardest workers I've ever met."

Sarah laughed a little. "Agent Gibbs, you hit the nail right on the head. I've seen a lot of change in Tim since he started working for you. He's not nearly as whiney and insecure as he used to be! Smart? Hell, yes, but he always worried he was doing something wrong. Drove my parents crazy!" She paused. "So, what, you said something to hurt his feelings or something?"

"Worse than that. I forgot that he had actually turned into a damn good field agent and treated him like he was still completely green and didn't really matter. He deserved better than that."

Sarah bit her lip. She knew Tim thought more highly of Agent Gibbs than anyone he'd ever met and she could imagine how he'd react to being treated like that by a man he so respected. She could remember as a little kid how a harsh word from their father, another man Tim respected, could totally crush Tim's spirit. She laughed a little herself. It was quite a surprise to Dad when his daughter was not so easily cowed! But it was becoming clearer to her now. If Gibbs had treated Tim like he didn't really matter to the team, Tim would again be crushed which apparently left him wide open to be ensnared by some crazy black widow snake girl.

"So what's gonna happen now," demanded Sarah. "Is he still in NCIS?"

"If he wants to be," replied Gibbs looking now at Tim. "It's up to him. I'd have him back in a second but the question is, will he want to come back after what's happened."

"Of course he will!" retorted Sarah quickly. "He _loves_ working for NCIS! My dad couldn't believe it when his brilliant son didn't wanna go work for some high profile tech company making big bucks because he wanted to be a _Navy cop_! NCIS is all Tim ever wanted to do! Agent Gibbs, you have _no_ idea how excited he was when you made him a field agent. I spent an entire weekend having to listen to him go on and on about _that_!"

Gibbs smiled for the first time. Yeah, he did remember how excited McGee had been when he'd presented him with his promotion. Of course, Tim had been in for a bit of a come down when he found out Kate and Tony still put him low man on the totem pole but he'd come a long way since then and Sarah was right, Tim did seem to love his work. He glanced over at Sarah again taking in the pale complexion and dark circles under her eyes.

"Why don't you go home and get some rest," he suggested as she tried to subdue a massive yawn. "I'll sit with him."

Sarah looked uncertain for a moment but the long days of stress and emotional turmoil had taken their toll and her body felt heavy with fatigue. She'd been here when Tim first woke up and that was the important thing so maybe she could slip back to the dorm for a few hours of sleep. Damn. It just occurred to her she'd need to talk to her professors concerning all the classes she'd missed. She almost smiled. That was the first sign that maybe they were coming out of the dark tunnel and into the light of normalcy. She stood up and stretched. "Thank you, Agent Gibbs. I'm beat and I think now that he's doing better I could actually sleep."

Gibbs stepped aside as she moved towards the door. Sarah paused and looked at him. "Thank you, Agent Gibbs. For being here for Tim and for me. I couldn't have gotten through this alone." She turned and was gone.

Gibbs stared at the empty doorway for a few moments. If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have been in this position in the first place. With a weary sigh, he settled into the chair next to Tim.

XXXX

When McGee woke up the next time, the room was dimly lit. He looked around trying to get his bearings again.

"McGee?"

Tim turned his head to see Gibbs sitting nearby leaning towards him. "Boss?"

"Yeah, it's me, Tim. How ya doin'?"

Tim considered this a moment. He felt incredibly weak and groggy and there was a dull throbbing pain in his leg but he was alive. "OK," he managed. Gibbs nodded then like Sarah before him, offered Tim some water which McGee accepted gratefully.

"Sarah?"

"I sent her home to get some rest," replied Gibbs setting the water back on the small table near the bed. "She's been here for days and was exhausted."

Tim digested this. "Tony?"

"He's doin' OK. It was close there for awhile but you know DiNozzo. He's tough. Now he's up there givin' the nurses a hard time. They should be releasing him in another day or two. He said you pulled him out of a river and will forever be in your debt. I suggest you take full advantage of that. "

Tim gave a faint smile. "How long…?"

It took Gibbs a second to realize what he was asking. "Ten days. You've been here ten days."

Tim's eyes widened slightly at this. Gibbs laid a hand on his shoulder. "But you're gonna be OK, Tim. We weren't sure there for awhile but I wouldn't have picked you for my team if you weren't tough." Tim continued to stare at him as if doubting what he was hearing.

"Tim," sighed Gibbs deciding it was time. "I've said this to you while you were in the coma and I just said it to Sarah, now it's time I said it to _you_. I let you down when you needed me. I was too immersed in my own problems to realize a member of my team was in trouble and let things get out of hand. I've been treating you like you were still wet behind the ears but the truth is, you're turning into an excellent field agent."

"No, Boss," croaked McGee looking dismayed at Gibb's admission. "_I_ screwed up! I let a pretty face… get me in trouble. Shoulda known better." He stopped and swallowed painfully. He wanted to say so much more but it was just too hard to get the words out.

" McGee," Gibbs said forcibly. "They were _drugging_ you! You weren't really thinking straight and I shoulda seen the signs that you were in trouble. Instead, I just let it slide. I wasn't there for you and I shoulda been! You're part of _my_ team, _my_ responsibility. I have no excuse for letting this happen."

McGee said nothing. He wasn't entirely sure what to think. _He_ was the one that screwed up! Not Gibbs. Sure, Gibbs had been riding him hard and McGee didn't always feel like he was a necessary part of the team but that was no reason for Gibbs to take the blame for McGee's stupidity. McGee had fallen for Emmy hook, line, and sinker from the moment he'd seen her and that had obviously clouded his judgment and yet… first Tony and now Gibbs had accused the church of drugging him. Was that true? He felt so groggy it was hard to think but suddenly he could see himself ransacking the storage room looking for a bottle of the elixir, his face wild with desperation. Had that really been him? He behaved like some junkie desperate for a fix. He felt sick to his stomach.

Gibbs watched a series of emotions wash over McGee's face, from confusion to disbelief to horror. What was going through his mind, Gibbs wondered. He hesitated a moment then said, "Tim, I know you've been through hell but you survived it and I think you'll be a stronger person in the end. I know you resigned, but I want you back on the team. You don't have to answer me right now, but we need you. Everyone on my team is important and vital to the functioning of the team. I wouldn't have picked you if I thought you weren't able to handle the work. I only want the best on my team. Do I make myself clear?"

McGee blinked trying to refocus his attention on Gibbs. He frowned in confusion. What had he said?

Gibbs shook his head and leaned in closer. "I _said_, I only want the best on my team…_do I make myself clear!"_

McGee stared at him for a long, long moment before slowly nodding. Gibbs smiled and returned the nod. "Good. Get some rest, McGee. And listen," he leaned closer, conspiratorially, " if Director Vance shows up trying to convince you to go back into cybercrimes, don't listen to him…You're too valuable a field agent to be stuck down in the basement ." He patted Tim on the shoulder and with a nod to the nurse who had just entered, disappeared through the door.

McGee lay speechless staring at the now empty doorway as the nurse checked his vitals. He felt Gibbs's words whirling around in his head. Vance? Cybercrimes? 'Best on the team' as his muddled brain tried to make sense of them. He shook his head. What had just happened?


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N This is it, the last chapter. I want to again thank all of you for taking the time to read and review. I hope that you have enjoyed the story and I want to thank everyone for all the encouragement and helpful comments. I hope this doesn't disappoint. Thanks again to you all!**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX**

Tony looked around the hospital room one last time making sure he had everything. _Finally,_ they were releasing him and it wasn't a moment too soon! He'd been going stir crazy in this place but the doctors were worried about his plague-scarred lungs especially after his near drowning and a few possible signs of pneumonia had insured he wasn't getting out quickly. But, they'd finally cleared him and although it would still be several weeks before they'd allow him to return to work, it would be a great relief to go home.

He looked at his watch. It would be another hour or so before Gibbs was scheduled to arrive and give him a ride home so he decided there was time to visit McGee. Gibbs had stopped in a couple of days ago to let him know that McGee had regained consciousness but Probie had been sleeping when Tony went to go see him. Maybe he'd be awake this time. Regardless, he wanted to make sure his partner was OK before he left.

When he reached the ICU, he met Abby just coming out. "Tony!" she gushed, her face bright and smiling. "Look at you! All dressed up and ready to go!"

Tony grinned back. His suit hung loosely on thin frame and he knew he looked like crap overall, two weeks in a hospital will do that to you, but he was feeling better than he had in a long time. "How's McGoo?"

Abby's smile widened. "He's awake, Tony! I know the doctors said he would be OK but I couldn't really believe it until he woke up and talked to me, y'know?"

Tony felt a surge of relief. He knew exactly what she meant. Even when McGee had started showing signs of recovery, as long as he remained unconscious Tony had had a hard time believing that McGee would be OK. "Is he still awake? The Boss said he'd pick me up in about an hour now that the doctor said I could go home but I was hopin' to see Tim first."

Abby nodded happily. "Well, he was just a few minutes ago. I was just gonna go get something to drink but I know he'd love to see you, Tony!" She paused and screwed her face up uncertainly, "Listen, there is something. I think he's really feeling guilty about all this so maybe you can let him know it's OK, you know?"

Tony looked beyond her towards the ICU. Oh yeah, if he knew anything about Probie it was that he was practically paralyzed by guilt for having overdue library books so Tony could just imagine how overwhelmed Tim would be by this little event! "Don't worry, Abs," he smiled. "I'll knock some sense into him."

After Abby left, Tony headed to Tim's room where he found his partner alert and watchful as Tony entered the room. "Probie!" exclaimed Tony with a big grin, "It's great to see you! You look like crap!"

Tim opened his mouth to respond, closed it, opened it, then finally laughed weakly although his eyes remained worried. "It's good to see you too, Tony." He hesitated. "You OK?"

Tony sauntered over still grinning. "Of course I am, McGoo! They only kept me here this long because the nurses wouldn't give me up! I mean, there was this one really cute night nurse…." He paused and shook his head then waggled his eyebrows. "Maybe we better not go there!"

Tim closed his eyes with a soft chuckle. Opening them again, he face was now full of regret and anguish. "Tony…I…I am so sorry you were hurt. It was all my fault. If I hadn't been so stupid you and Ziva wouldn't have been shot and…"

"McGee!" snapped Tony glaring down at him impatiently. "I _told_ you out there in the wilderness, it is NOT your fault. Jeeze, McGuilty, how many times do we have to tell you this! _You… Were... Drugged_! I mean come on, do you honestly think you'd be dancin' around with handful of rattlesnakes in your right mind! Next to that, falling for a pretty girl, even if she did turn out to be a black widow, makes perfect sense!"

"But I shoulda known better!" persisted McGee miserably. "I've read about cults and all that! I should have been smart enough to see the danger. But no, I had to follow that pretty girl straight into hell. What an idiot."

Tony shook his head. This was pure McGee obstinacy. The guy was determined to suffer the blame for everything that happened regardless of what anyone said. Tony reached out and gently but firmly smacked McGee on the back of the head.

"Hey!" snapped McGee in surprise. "What was that for?"

"For being an idiot," replied Tony evenly. "McGee, you are gonna have a long road ahead of you before they'll even _think_ about letting you outta here. Are you gonna spend all that time moaning and groaning about how stupid you were? OK, maybe you did make some mistakes. So what? So did we! Believe me, McGee, there is more than enough blame to go around but we learn from our mistakes. That's what makes us good cops. And you _are_ a good cop, McGee."

"I'm not sure Gibbs thinks so," McGee mumbled. He had spent hours trying to decipher what Gibbs had said to him when he first woke up. "I think he wants me to go back into Cybercrimes where Vance wants me. Gibbs only wants the best on his team and I don't think I qualify."

Tony was completely taken aback by this statement. Where on earth had Probie gotten the idea Gibbs thought he should return to Cybercrimes! That was nuts. Gibbs had even told Tony what he'd said to McGee about coming back to the team. Obviously the message had not gotten through!

"McGee, the Boss absolutely wants you back! He told me so. He doesn't think you belong down in the basement. You belong back upstairs with us!"

Tim frowned. "Do you really think so, Tony?" he asked hesitantly.

Tony sighed heavily. "Yes! Honestly, do think the Boss woulda kept you around all this time if he didn't think you belonged with us? Not many can work with Gibbs but you're still here, right? He respects your abilities, Probie. I mean the guy can barely figure out how turn on his computer and you were probably building them in your basement when you were like ten!"

"Eight, actually," mumbled McGee.

Tony rolled his eyes but secretly he was pleased. He was finally getting a response from McGee that didn't involve a lot of angst and self-recrimination. "There! That's _exactly_ what I mean! Tim, you've spent an awful lot of time lately feeling guilty about what you did. Fine. But that time is over. It's time to get back on the horse and do what you've wanted to do all your life, be an NCIS agent."

Tim was silent for a long moment. "I guess I could try…" he began.

"No!" interrupted Tony lifting a finger gravely. "Listen to me carefully, Probie-wan, _do_ or _do not_, there is no try!"

Tim's eyes widened and he gave a little laugh.

"Besides McGee, you saved my life!" continued Tony earnestly. "You pulled me outta that river in the nick of time! Surely you're gonna give me a chance to make it up to you or at the very least, it'll give you something to hold over my head for the rest of my natural life or until I kill you. Whichever comes first."

McGee shook his head. How could he ever argue with Tony? He honestly didn't want to feel so guilty. He didn't want to give up his job at NCIS. He wanted to go back to work with Ziva and Abby and DiNozzo. He missed Ducky and even Jimmy. He wanted to be solving crimes again and hacking into top secret databases and putting criminals behind bars. He knew he could be overly sensitive about things and thinking back, that was undoubtedly a large part of what led to his feelings of inadequacy but he also knew he tended to be too retiring and not nearly assertive enough. It was easy to be overlooked if you hid yourself in the shadows.

He glanced at Tony who was watching him expectantly. "What do you want me to do?" Tim said softly. "Could you even trust my judgment ever again?"

"Tim," replied Tony gravely. "I would trust you with my life."

Tim's recovery was slow. His parents finally arrived and were appalled at the sight of their injured son but soon rallied and they took on paying his bills, cleaning his apartment and all the other mundane activities he was unable to do. He remained in ICU another week before the doctors felt his condition was stable enough to move into a regular room. This gave Tim more than enough time to contemplate his situation.

Every day someone from NCIS came by to see him. Each of them urged him to make his decision to return to the agency. Tim was slightly amused by Vance trying to persuade him to move back to cybercrimes saying it would be less stressful, but McGee wasn't convinced. If the doctors wouldn't clear him for field work, then that might be an option but right now, he wasn't interested in spending his entire career doing little more than digging through computers and databases. He loved going out into the field. That is where his heart was and truth be told, he wasn't sure he wanted to stay in NCIS if he was restricted to desk work. In that case, he might as well take a job in Silicon Valley and make some real money. But, the doctors were optimistic that his leg would heal well enough. He'd had several tissue grafts and they were doing well. So he remained hopeful.

McGee had asked them about the drug he'd been fed and the doctors assured him that his exposure, although acute, had been short lived and some of the meds they had been given him had neutralized the drugs in his system and although it was possible he might experience a mild craving, they didn't think addiction was going to be a problem. That was a great relief to him. He couldn't get that image of himself breaking down the storeroom door trying to get more elixir. That was extremely disturbing to him. He'd probably think twice before taking even an aspirin from now on.

Yet, he still remained hesitant about making a final decision. He wasn't sure why. He believed now that his teammates did care for him and that his skills and abilities were important so why did he waver? He pondered this question each night as he drifted off to sleep.

_Because you still don't trust yourself._

Tim found himself standing in the little cabin he had spent his one married night with Emmy. She stood before him looking as beautiful as she had that night.

_I do trust myself_, he protested but there was little conviction behind his words.

_No, Tim, you don't. You keep thinking that if you could be so easily conned once, you could be conned again and that could put your friends in danger once more._

Tim opened his mouth to deny this but then it snapped shut. She was right. He did doubt himself even if the others didn't.

_Oh, Tim, you are so foolish_! Said Emmy with a shake of her head. _Everyone _else_ trusts you. You aren't stupid you know. Daddy knew you would catch on quickly if we didn't keep you drugged and even then, he could tell that deep down, you were suspicious. We realized that we had to get rid of you quickly before you finally let yourself see what was happening. You just didn't listen to your gut and that was your only real mistake._

Tim thought about this and nodded slowly. It was true. He knew he'd had misgivings right from the start but ignored them because he wanted the illusion to be true. If he had listened to his gut, he would have seen McAbee as the con man he was and then none of this would have happened. But what about Emmy? Would he have seen through her as well?

_Yes, Tim, you would have seen through me as well. But that is all past now. What about your future? You worked all your life to get where you are in NCIS. Agent Gibbs specifically asked for you. Agent DiNozzo has told you over and over that you are good at what you do. The others all respect you and your abilities. Are you going to throw that all away for one stupid mistake?_ She suddenly looked exasperated and scowled at McGee. _Now, just get over yourself and do what you know you want to do!_ And with that, she was gone.

Tim woke with a start. He looked around his room and realized that for once, he was alone. He lay back against the pillows. _What a dream_, he thought bemused. But, he felt the truth of it. Obviously, his subconscious was telling him what to do. Or was it really his subconscious? Emmy's lovely face formed in his mind and his smiled. She smiled back then gave him a meaningful look. Tim shook himself . That was weird but nevertheless, he knew what she was telling him.

Awkwardly, McGee pushed himself up on his elbow and reached towards the small bedside table. There was a drawer in the table which he slowly opened as if fearing something might jump out at him. Inside was an envelope. Tim stared at it a moment before pulling it out and grasping it tightly in his hand. He leaned back against the bed and continued to study it. Vance had brought it to him a couple of days ago. It was the letter of resignation he had sent to the director after storming out of the bullpen that day. _This is your choice, McGee, _Vance had said. _I will accept this only if you honestly feel you cannot continue at NCIS but I sincerely hope you will reconsider and stay with us. _

Tim felt his heart flutter then carefully and methodically he tore the letter into tiny little pieces. As he stared at fragments of paper littering his bed, he felt lighter than he had in a long time and then, he smiled. He had made his decision and this time, he had listened to his gut.

**THE END**


End file.
